So, let’s celebrate a combined non-fiction and early chapter book series today, shall we? I’ve recently become a huge fan of Anna Branford. I read Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot; Violet Mackerel’s Remarkable Recovery; How to Make Small Things with Violet Mackerel – by Anna Branford - Early Chapter Books – after I read another book from the Violet Mackerel series and I was simply enchanted with the beautiful philosophy and life experiences that Violet’s character has from needing to get her tonsils removed and making a special friend in the waiting room to how when Violet thinks she has a perfect plot on how to get an object it goes a little haywire. Violet is a character that reminded me that little things can be very special, you can slow down and make friends with certain people, and a single parent home should be naturally introduced in more novels Violet's brilliant plot starts when she decides she wants to buy a special blue pottery bird from a table at the craft market. There's a man who never speaks when she talks to him and he has it for sale. She's got to find a way to earn $10. Her career as an archaeologist looking for treasure in the backyard comes to an abrupt end when she wrecks the garden.Eventually she decorates a 'tubular scarf' that's been one of her mum's experiments and tries to sell it for $10. But the silent man at the stall selling the pottery birds looks so cold and miserable, she decides she'd rather give it to him so he'll be warm.A warm fuzzy of a book. Charming as a flower posy and and sweet as clover honey, it treads a very fine line between cloying and gentle. The delicate illustrations capture a soft mood and the interesting fonts are well... interesting. They add something emphatic to the book but I'm not quite sure what. This is a book for young girls though I sometimes wondered about the level of the vocabulary. Violet is nicely eccentric. Her brother Dylan and sister Nicola ground the book quite a bit: they are realistic, squabbling siblings. Violet's mum makes money for the household by knitting sweaters for sale at the local craft market. Dad is nowhere to be seen; her parents are divorced. Vincent, the young silent man Violet brings out of his shell, is touchingly done.
What do You think about Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot (2010)?
Cute book! I'd recommend this to readers who like Ivy & Bean, or possibly Judy Moody.
—jess
