Join the Queen on an adventure as she searches for the perfect crown for her birthday in The Birthday Crown. Written by popular children's author Davide Cali, the children's book celebrates Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday. The book was published by the Royal Collection Trust, which also released chinaware in the monarch's honor earlier this year.The tale begins with preparations for the big celebration at Buckingham Palace. Everything is falling into place, but the right crown for the special event still needs to be found.
A number of people try to help the Queen; the royal jewellers, grocers and gardeners are among those who make alternative suggestions, from a fruit headpiece and a birdcage, to a disco ball and a crown in the shape of a fairground carousel. But at the end of the story, it is the Queen's little grandson who comes up with the perfect solution – a paper crown he has made himself.
Illustrator Kate Slater helps bring the story and its characters to life with her charming illustrations, which have been created using a 3D collage technique; Kate suspends paper-collage pieces from wires to build the illustration. Then, she photographs each scene in the book, removing the wires from the final version of the illustration. "We hope that children and adults alike will enjoy Davide Cali's charming story about a very special birthday, brought to life through Kate Slater's highly original collage illustrations," Jacky Colliss Harvey, publisher at The Royal Collection Trust, said of the 32-page book.
The Birthday Crown will be available from April 12, priced at around $14 from www.royalcollection.org.uk/shop and from Royal Collection Trust shops in London and Edinburgh.
