Violet Mackerel's Remarkable Recovery

Anna Branford (author)

Sarah Davis (illustrator)

Walker Books, Australia: April 2011; 110pp

ISBN: 9781921529184

Genre: humour, realistic fiction

Issues: family, friendship, illness

When Violet Mackeral's doctor tells her that having her tonsils out is the only way to get rid of her constantly sore throat, Violet is not happy.

She doesn't like having things removed – especially parts of her body. But something Dr Singh says fires Violet's imagination and she realises that it's quite possible she could make a truly remarkable recovery and have a quite different type of voice after her surgery. Aiming high, Violet decides that opera-singing might be the way to go. Surgery doesn't have to be bad – it can be transforming!

This delightful story is realistic rather than preachy. While there is a light-hearted message along the lines of 'surgery isn't as scary as it seems at the time', Violet Mackeral's Remarkable Recovery is mostly about an imaginative little girl and her interesting family. Together they have a positive, quirky way of looking at the world that encourages the reader to look at things in a more Violet way.

Branford's lively, humorous text is supplemented by Sarah Davis's wonderful illustrations. Even in black and white her pictures are evocative and full of energy, reinforcing and expanding Branford's characterisations as well as capturing the loving relationships between Violet and her family.