Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat - Softcover

Branford, Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 144243595X ISBN 13: 9781442435957

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013

Synopsis

Violet is back with a little bit of helpfulness and a whole lot of heart in this third book of the effervescent Violet Mackerel series.

Violet is the smallest in her family, and has a special affinity for Small Things everywhere. So when she finds a tiny ladybug in the garden, she expects she knows how it feels. It probably has to go to bed before all the others, and whenever it finds out something interesting (like that your ears keep growing all your life even when you are old), the bigger ladybugs probably say they already knew.

Violet wants to help the ladybug, so she names her Small Gloria, puts her in a jar, and feeds her cheese toast. And then Violet wakes up to a horrible surprise. But thankfully, even as Violet learns a hard lesson about natural habitats, she realizes how nice it is to share her own habitat with a big sister.

About this title

About the Author

Anna Branford was born on the Isle of Man and spent parts of her childhood in Africa and in Papua New Guinea. Now she lives in Melbourne, Australia, with a large black cat called Florence. She writes, drinks cups of tea in her garden, and makes dolls and other small things, which she sells at early morning markets. Anna is the author of the Violet Mackerel series. Visit her at AnnaBranford.com.

Elanna Allen lives in New York with her husband and sons, where she writes and illustrates children’s books and designs characters for television. She wrote and illustrated Itsy Mitsy Runs Away and has created characters for Disney, Nickelodeon, and PBS. Stop by and say hi at ElannaAllen.com.

Reviews

Gr 1-3-In this beginning chapter book, seven-year-old Violet Mackerel has a soft spot for Small Things, being one herself. She notices a sparrow trapped inside the local shopping mall and the ladybugs in her backyard. After being told to "buzz off" by her big sister, Nicola, for suggesting that she could use the ladybugs for her natural-science project, Violet decides to conduct her own experiment. She finds a jar and creates what she thinks is the perfect ladybug habitat. In the morning, "Small Gloria" is "the wrong way up," and the sisters offer each other some comfort. They work together to create a life-cycle ladybug project without removing any more of the insects from their natural habitats, and Nicola is awarded a special honorable mention for her project. Black-and-white pencil sketches placed strategically throughout provide additional plot support. The sweet and whimsical nature of the story will appeal to many readers.-Amy Commers, South St. Paul Public Library, MNα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Violet Mackerel’s Natural Habitat


Violet Mackerel is a seven-year-old girl who is at the shopping center with her mama.



They have been there all afternoon, buying violin strings for Violet’s eleven-year-old brother, Dylan, and an Encyclopedia of Natural Science for her thirteen-year-old sister, Nicola, who is doing a special display for a school science fair. They have not been buying anything for Violet, unless you count gray school socks. Violet does not count gray school socks.



And now Mama has bumped into Mrs. Lin from across the road and they are having an extremely long cup of tea in the food court.

“With petrol prices as they are,” says Mama to Mrs. Lin, “it’s getting difficult to make ends meet.”

“I know,” says Mrs. Lin to Mama. “My bills are going through the roof.”

No one says anything to Violet, so she thinks about Mrs. Lin’s bills going through the roof. The roof of the food court is quite high up. Past two whole floors of shops. And there is a small brown sparrow flying there.



Violet wonders if the sparrow has always lived in the shopping mall or if he flew in by mistake and can’t find his way out of the automatic sliding doors that creak open and shut as the people come and go. She wonders if indoor sparrows are jealous of outdoor sparrows, who have leafy trees to nest in, or if outdoor sparrows are jealous of indoor sparrows, who get doughnut crumbs and bits of hot dog to eat. It is difficult to know what small creatures think. But while Violet is wondering, the sparrow flies down onto the floor of the food court and hops and jumps just near where she is sitting.



Violet wishes she had some doughnut crumbs, but since she doesn’t, she tries to think of what else a sparrow might like. She suspects it is probably quite difficult for an indoor sparrow to find things to build a nest with, and that gives her an idea. The hem of her daisy skirt is coming unraveled, and she pulls on a loose thread. It gets quite long before it breaks. Violet puts it down on the ground for the sparrow.

“You can weave this into your nest,” says Violet.

The sparrow hops over, picks it up in his beak, and flies back toward the roof of the shopping mall.

Violet smiles. A new thought is forming in her mind. It is called the Theory of Helping Small Things and it works like this: If you do something to help a small thing, that small thing might find a way of helping you.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 144243595X
• ISBN 13: 9781442435957
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Allen Elanna
• Number of pages: 112