Violet Mackerel's Remarkable Recovery

Violet Mackerel's Remarkable Recovery by Anna Branford; ill. by Elanna Allen
Which readers? 1st and up

A couple of months ago, I reviewed the first Violet Mackerel novel, which I thought was a delightful treat for young children who are strong readers for their age. This second little novelette in the series does not disappoint! Violet is as spunky, precocious, and creative as ever.

Violet is going to have her tonsils removed, and she once again has a silly yet oh-so-true theory. In the first book, her theory involved the universe rewarding and signifying a remarkable thought by finding some special trinket on the ground (in a first grader's language, of course!) This time she has created The Theory of Giving Small Things, which states that small items which are given to someone when they have a problem have a bit of the givers wishes for the person inside of them. Such as, when you give someone who is sick a little statuette, your wishes for their recovery and good health live inside of the item and stay with the recipient.

This charming sentiment is surrounded in the story by Violet's witty comments, stubborness, and tenacity, which creates such a heartwarming and real little girl. I think that little girls (and boys!) will fall in love all over again with Violet. Once again, the text is widely spaced with adorable illustrations by Allen. This series has four books coming out this year in the US, it has multiple cover images when I search Google images, and the author lives in Australia. I am deducing that this series has already been published elsewhere (my guess is Australia), although I have not done any research to verify.

Yes, still in love with little Violet.