Violet Trading

Anna Branford writes stories for children; she also writes bloggy snippets for grown ups ~ I like both very much.

At the end of June, Anna announced that she had received a gold(ish) star for her book writing efforts. The gold(ish) star is actually quite bronze and it is in fact a sticker in the shape of a circle but who am I to rain on her parade?

I am a fan of these particular bronze stickers, perhaps I might even be a collector. Only a few books get one each year. They are given out by The Children’s Book Council of Australia to identify the short-listed books for the Australian children’s book of the year award.

Anna got one…well Violet Mackerel got one for her brilliant plot as told by Anna.

I left a comment after the post asking Anna what it might take to get myself a signed copy of Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot; Anna suggested a trade. Ah “what a most fabulous idea” I replied, then I asked her “What is your heart's desire?”

Anna desired a gnome, a wintery icicle gnome, like this one.

Too easy – the trade was a done deal.

Not too long after we got a parcel with not one but two books! (Both signed yay!)

My big girl started reading Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot the next morning on the school bus and finished it with a grin on the drive home that afternoon. She read Violet Mackerel’s Remarkable Recovery curled up on the lounge later that afternoon; humming and singing as she turned the pages. She finished it and declared “mum you just have to read it!”

So I did; I snuck off to bed early with the last of the connoisseur ice cream (which is so good it has its own face book page!), a spoon and two little books about a girl named Violet.

Violet is delightful, as are all the characters that fill in the spaces to make the stories. Her mother is a knitter ~ obviously making her a good woman with creative bones. Even though I had a good idea early on of how her brilliant plot might end up it was a wonderful ride getting there; especially the theory of finding small things and sparkly bits. Violets Remarkable Recovery hit a real soft spot for me; I loved it. I delighted in Anna’s narrative and found myself smiling often; especially at the end. I do love a feel good tale.

Go out and get yourself a copy of each, even if you don’t have a little person to read it to ~ they will look quite pretty on the shelf when you are done too.

Ps… there is a third Violet book, Violet Mackerel’s Natural Habitat ready for release next month (October 2011) and she's written one about Neville and Sophie too.