Mrs. Armitage: Queen of the Road by Quentin Blake

Mrs. Armitage: Queen of the Road Reviews

• 
  Julie

  A fun read! I loved the carefree devil-may-care attitude of Mrs Armitage. She was determined to have an adventure and improvised in the face of adversity. In fact, her sense of adventure is so infectious that she ends up being initiated into a biker gang!
• 
  Melki

  A woman who probably shouldn't be driving a motorized vehicle finds herself in possession of a dandy automobile. While I appreciated Blake's fine artwork, this dame's cavalier attitude behind the wheel drove me bonkers. Suspend her license immediately!
• 
  Книжни Криле

  Сър Куентин Блейк! Не просто художник, а жива легенда на детската илюстрация. Стил, който не може да бъде сбъркан. Палави, свободни щрихи. Изразителни мастилени петна. Отказващи, да останат в очертанията акварелни цветове. Не просто характерна визия, а запазена марка. И след като е невъзможно да мислим за Роалд Дал, без да се сетим и за Куентин Блейк, дали можем да мислим за Куентин Блейк, без да се сетим за Роалд Дал? Защото освен като художник, Куентин Блейк най-накрая ще се изяви пред българските читатели и като автор! Ако ви се намира каска под ръка, сложете си я. И задължително затегнете коланите. Защото с гръм и трясък се задава „Госпожа Армитидж. Кралицата на пътя“. Смеете ли да се повозите заедно с тази щура дама? Това хумористично, високооктаново приключение пристига при нас благодарение на изд. „Enthusiast”. Прочетете ревюто на „Книжни Криле“:
  https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202...
• 
  Erin

  Mrs. Armitage meets life with a carefree attitude, and in this particular story, her car takes the brunt of the consequences. Blake’s illustrations match the story’s freewheeling heroine, and work well with the crash, bang, boom noises that accompany each accident. Every time the car gets a little worse for the wear, Mrs. Armitage shrugs it off, casually dismisses the incident, and (with her faithful hound) continues on her road trip adventure.
  
  Quentin Blake’s lines are what used to give me hope of drawing myself. But somehow he manages the squiggles, wiggles and flourishes with surprising finesse. There are no straight lines in this story and the shapes are ragged, so they represent that carefree attitude of Mrs. Armitage quite well. The shapes are filled with watercolors that create a relaxed, urban palette. Within the drawings there is not a lot of use of value, but each scene is set against a white background, which makes each page pop. The interplay of illustration with text keeps the eye moving across all the pages and most of the action is set at an eye-level perspective, but every so often we get to zoom in on Mrs. Armitage and her faithful dog. Overall this is a very fun story.
  
• 
  Kristin

  A let-down, unfortunately. Love the illustrations; Quentin Blake’s style is immediately recognizable ans totally enchanting. My children were drawn in right away by the cover and it brought back fond memories for me of loving his illustrations in “Matilda” as a child. We kept bouncing along with Mrs. Armitage, thinking the story was leading to something great.... But, uh... sorry, I don’t think there are many little kids out there who would think much of a mousey woman turning into a biker chick. This doesn’t matter to them! Oh well. A sad disappointment.
• 
  Iqra Fiaz

  I like that Quentin Blake has given his character - Mrs Armitage - a series of books because it means children have the chance to experience what it is like to get stuck into a set of books and get 'hooked' into a character.
  
  It being a picturebook is great because it means it is accessible for children of all reading abilities. Children who have limited reading abilities are still able to get more involved in the characters through the rich illustrations Quentin Blake offers.
  
  Overall, a great book.
• 
  Cheryl

  So different... creative, odd... I just don't know if I like it or not, or whether to recommend it to any of you. If you think the name Breakspear is terrific for a little white dog, you might want to check this out.
• 
  Tamara Zann

  Enjoyably moraless.
• 
  Jenna Mills

  Funny
• 
  MaryJo

  I so enjoyed the other Mrs. Armitage stories but this one left me flat. Oddly I was disturbed by the amount of car parts that ended “in the trash” and the cliche motorcyclists she encountered.
• 
  C (one.chapteratatime)

  It's not because it's named after me that I love this book. But I like the title too. *wink
• 
  Asya

  Be like Mrs. Armitage: take everything life gives you, transform it in a way you like (never mind what others say) and find the people who accept you as you are. Great story.
• 
  Dhwani

  Wish there were more in this series
• 
  Vera Godley

  Quirky! Absolutely bizarre and quirky. Quentin Blake has taken his ink pen and water colors and given us in image and text a cute, quirky little lady who is gifted a car. Well, more a rattletrap vehicle of the 4-wheel version. Once given to her, Mrs. Armitage and devoted dog, Breakspear, hop on board and roll down the road.
  
  Each "bump in the road" shakes off a piece of the car as she rolls along. What does she do? Despair? No. She simply throws the troublesome piece away and keeps rolling along. (What can we learn from life with this tidbit?) In one scene (two-page spread of delightful imagery), she is rolling along and still has the sides of the car intact. Here is the story line on that page....
  
  "Breakspear," said Mrs. Armitage, "I think it is time for us to get out of this town." They went down a side road into the country. All around then were trees, and the birds were singing."
  
  "Breakspear," said Mrs. Armitage, "this is blissful."
  
  This is a fun book and will be an opportunity for teaching "making do" with what you're given and also acceptance of the "bumps in the road of life." The book is, I am sure, fully intended to be an entertainment and light-hearted little read for the young and young-in-heart, yet sometimes it is good to also read between the lines, so to speak.
  
• 
  Dolly

  This is the second book we've read recently that features
  Mrs. Armitage and her little dog, Breakspear. These tales are fun, adventurous, a bit odd and quite silly.
  
  I love that it depicts an older woman as vital, active and free-spirited. And I love the quirky nature of the tale, ending with Mrs. Armitage hanging out with a biker gang. It's certainly no less than I would expect from
  Quentin Blake, whose unique illustrations are well known from his collaborations with
  Roald Dahl.
  
  This book was selected as one of the books for the
  November 2013 - Cars and Trucks discussion at the
  Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
• 
  Lis K

  Mrs. Armitage is one no-nonsense lady. She's up for trying new things. When her Uncle Cosmo gives her his car, she and her dog, Breakspear, take it for a spin. Things start falling off the car while they're driving---sometimes due to accidents, sometimes due to her driving---until the car is just a shell of a machine. Then Mrs. Armitage runs into Uncle Cosmo and his motorcycle club and they think her "lean machine" is the best ever. As an adult, I thought the storyline was fine until the motorcycle club shows up. I thought that was a little strange, especially the one biker woman with a cleavage-baring top and skin-tight clothing. However, my kids thought the book was hilarious and really liked how the car parts kept falling off and the way the car looked at the end. I did like how Mrs. Armitage is resourceful, goes with the flow, and is rewarded with becoming "Queen of the Road."
• 
  Tricia Douglas

  I had forgotten how wonderful books by Quentin Blake can be. Of course, his illustrations are always great with his unique style of line-drawings. This book also has a very cute story. Mrs. Armitage inherits her uncle's old car. Being the terrible driver that she is, as she drives over bumps and runs into posts, parts of the car fall off and are discarded by Anastasia. She eventually runs into her Uncle with his new motorcycle. As he and his motorcycle buddies observe the "new" car, without most of the parts now, they are amazed at the new and wonderful machine, very much resembling a motorcycle itself. Mrs. Armitage is a hit with her newly designed automobile and off she goes with her uncle and her new friends, the motorcycle gang. I think most children will love this story.
• 
  Rachel

  I love Quentin Blake's illustrations for Roald Dahl and Michael Rosen, but I had no idea he was an author in his own right. So when I saw this book in the children's section, I knew I had to read it. The book is about Mrs. Armitage and her dog Breakspear who inherits a car from her uncle and proceeds to drive it around time. It falls completely apart until she is left with just the frame, tire, seats and engine. Then she runs into her uncle and his motorcycle gang who spruce it and her up and then they go for drinks. Rather random, but it works, especially with Blake's scribbly painted illustrations. Recommended for ages 4-7, 3 stars.
• 
  CalamityMane

  Bumps in the road? No problem. With her car as the metaphor, Mrs. Armitage shows us that being easygoing has its advantages.
  
  Ignore the fact that all the snazzy cars are driven by men and that a group of men looks on indulgently at Mrs. Armitage's mishaps (that's the grownup and the feminist in me) and remember that it was a man (Uncle Cosmo) who gifted her the car in the first place and that that same man makes her and her little dog, Breakspear, feel included (along with some wonderful gift-giving friends). Her attitude and those gifts help her become the wonderfully unique and free-spirited "Queen of the Road".
• 
  Kathryn

  I enjoyed seeing how Mrs Armitage became "Queen of the Road" ;-) A silly, fun tale that nevertheless teaches/shows various parts to a car, some of the dangers of driving (but also some of the fun and adventure) and also how sometimes "less is more". The illustrations are quirky and fun--classic Blake. This was my first encounter with Mrs Armitage but I see she's a busy lady with several other adventures to share.