The Birthday Crown was written in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday, but even without that very specific context, this vivacious, cleverly illustrated picture book is an absolute delight.
British illustrator Kate Slater (Eva of the Farm; The Little Red Hen) captures the "huge excitement" on the palace grounds with exquisite 3-D cut-paper collages of a commotion of horses, carts, soldiers, palace workers and gift-bearers. The rest of the book happens in a palace room, a paper theater set that Slater constructed, populated with cut-out figures, then photographed from different angles. It's brilliant! The Queen's horses have been prettified, her shoes are ready, her gown is beautiful, "But--but--we still need to find the right birthday crown!" A variety of designers fabricate special crown options for the big day. The royal gift shop makes a snow globe crown ("Brrr... it suddenly feels rather cold in here!" says the Queen.) The royal greengrocer makes a delicious fruit crown, the royal gardener makes a charming flower crown ("Very pretty. But it's making the royal corgis sneeze!") and the royal beekeepers make a hive crown, complete with live buzzing bees. The dogs and grandchildren get into the action, too, and giggles are guaranteed. In the end, it's not the most elaborate crown that wins the Queen's fancy, but the crown made with the most love.
Swiss-born Italian author Davide Cali (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School...) tells the tale with lively humor and a deliberately repetitive structure perfect for storytime. Warning: May inspire a flurry of creative crown-making. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness