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, 12:55, 22 October 2015
{{infobox
|title=The Queen's Handbag
|sort= Queen's Handbag
|author=Steve Antony
|reviewer= Zoe Page
|genre=For Sharing
|summary= A further adventure for the Queen, this is a fun filled romp around the UK. Brilliantly British.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=32
|publisher= Hodder Children's Books
|date=October 2015
|isbn= 978-1444925524
|website= http://www.steveantony.com/
|video=
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444925520</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1444925520</amazonus>
}}
The Queen is back but this time it's not her hat that's blowing away in the wind, but her handbag. A swan, a sneaky swan has swooshed off with her handbag and a madcap chase is needed to recover it. Now you may think the Queen would surely have people to do this sort of thing for her, and you would be right, but she is a Strong Independent Woman who Don't Need No Man, as the saying goes and so it's Her Royal Highness who takes the wheel of the car and sets off in mad pursuit, hair wrapped in a scarf, corgi in the back.
What follows is a wonderfully vivid chase all over the British Isles, following the dastardly swan. There's Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Snowdonia, the Angel of the North and so many other landmarks. With each one we change form of transport, so there are some great verbs thrown in. This is a Queen who can gallop, dive, speed, chug, cycle and fly on motorbikes, horses, little boats and even parachutes at one point.
I loved the first book, and this follow up is just as good. The colour scheme screams British regalness: reds, blacks, whites and navy blues. Nothing garish, nothing that's not classic. Each page is bursting with story and although the Police try to help (one even jumps on a surfboard as they head towards the Giant's Causeway) they're no match for the swan. Luckily, the Queen has that one covered.
The language is simple and relatively scarce but you still get a hugely imaginative story that will have you, and them, giggling from the first page.
I'd like to thank the publishers for supplying this book. One for the permanent collection, this is a book brimming with Britishness and it puts on a jolly good show.
See where it all began, in the original offering [[The Queen's Hat by Steve Antony|The Queen's Hat]]
{{amazontext|amazon=1444925520}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1444925520}}
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