Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot by Anna Branford. Illustrated by Sarah Davis. Published by Walker Books.
A delightful book about Violet Mackerel who thinks she would like to own a blue china bird she has seen at the Saturday markets. She does not have enough money so she needs a plan, not an ordinary plan. She sets her mind to making a plan and realises she doesn’t need a good plot but a brilliant plot. Along the way she discovers something more important about friendship.
Activity ideas
- Begin exploring this book by reading a question and answer session with Anna Branford: Your students might like to write their own questions after reading the book.
- Violet Mackerel had to come up with a brilliant plot to get the small blue china bird she wanted. The students who created the digital story example related to this book, came up with brilliant plots of their own. View the digital story before asking your students to work together or in groups to create their own brilliant plots.
- Violet uses a notebook to make her plans. She records her ordinary ideas in a square and her interesting ideas outside the square. Introduce your students to Writer’s Notebooks using Violet’s as a model. The notebooks can be used to record ideas for future writing. Have them draw a square on each page-ordinary ideas inside the square and interesting ideas outside the square!
- Start by reading the chapter on the Leg Warmer and what Violet decides to do with this ordinary object. Have students choose their own ordinary object and brainstorm possible uses. Try to encourage lots of fun and creative ideas.
- In the first chapter Violet finds a small red button. The opening line of the book is, ‘Violet Mackerel is a girl with a theory’. Have students write about their theories and test them out.
- If your students enjoyed Violet Mackerel’s adventures introduce them to Violet Mackerel’s own website where there are lots of activities and downloads. There is a link on the site to write to Anna Branford:
- Spend some time discussing the opening page on the website. Here Violet Mackerel provides a welcome to her website by telling the reader about herself. Have your students imagine they have a website about themselves and write the opening page.
Teacher notes are available on the Walker Books website.
More about the author, Anna Branford
Anna Branford was born in the Isle of Man and spent her early childhood in Sudan and Papua New Guinea before moving to Australia. Anna is a doll maker and a sociology lecturer at a Victorian University. Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot is her first published work for Walker Books Australia.
Visit Anna’s website where she describes her character Violet as ‘a girl with lots of theories, ideas and interests, a family full of love and difficulties, and a longing for a blue china bird she saw at the market, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.’
About the illustrator, Sarah Davis
Sarah Davis grew up in New Zealand, and worked as a secondary school teacher before moving to Sydney. Sarah has collaborated with a number of leading authors in Australia, New Zealand and America, including Jennifer Poulter Mending Lucille (Lothian), for which Sarah won the 2009 Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Crichton Award for Best New Illustrator. Most recently, Sarah’s title Fearless, written by Colin Thompson, was short-listed for the 2010 Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards and has won numerous Children’s Choice awards.
Find out more about Sarah on her beautiful website where you will find lots of artwork and information about her illustrations. The book, Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot is sure to be popular in the primary years, but Sarah also conducts workshops for secondary students on drawing and painting, digital media, interpreting and creating visual texts, and career paths in illustration and design.
More information about the author and illustrator can also be found on the Walker Books website.