Solomon Macaroni & The Cousin Catastrophe

Solomon Macaroni & The Cousin Catastrophe written by Ashleigh Barton, illustrated by Sarah Davis (University of Queensland Press UQP) PB RRP $16.99 ISBN 9780702265617

Reviewed by Sarah Tegerdine

Solomon Macaroni & The Cousin Catastrophe is a light-hearted, entertaining middle grade fiction set in a time where magic has all but disappeared.

Some magical creatures cease to exist in the traditional sense and for those that remain, their powers have diminished quite drastically. Vampires for example don’t need blood to survive anymore and can quite happily engage in a meal of cheeseburgers and pancakes. They can’t run very fast or even fly… The one thing they have retained is the ability to live for a very long time.

Solomon is a young vampire and when we say young…he is a mere 552 years old: in human terms it equates to a ten-and-a-half-year-old boy. Solomon is desperately unhappy when his parents decide to leave on a 100-year around-the-world cruise and he is going to be staying with his quirky and comical Uncle, Count Dracula, and his cousins in not so nearby Transylvania.

Solomon has six cousins, five of whom are mean serial pranksters. So, he decides early on in his stay, despite his uncle’s warmth and generosity that this arrangement will be short-lived. He just can’t stay! He has to go back home to Italy and will simply wait for his parents return. Solomon colludes with his best friend Fred, who is a spider, stowaway, and karate expert but it’s at this point his favourite cousin Lucy provides Solomon his best way out.  She will help Solomon get home but only if he helps her with something first…

That something turns out to be a quest that challenges his beliefs and teaches him that there is more to his cousins than taunts and tricks.

It’s a perfect balance of mild spookiness with bunches of humour with family at its core. Recommended for junior fiction readers ready to make their first leap into middle grade.

Excitingly, a sequel is anticipated to be released sometime in 2023.

Violet Mackerel’s Formal Occasion

Violet Mackerel’s Formal Occasion by Anna Branford, illustrated by Sarah Davis (Walker Books)

HC RRP $ 19.95

ISBN 9781925081091

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

My favourite girl character Violet Mackerel is back again. I adore the delightful interpretation of Anna Branford’s work by Sarah Davis. She is so familiar with every aspect of each character’s personality that there’s not an emotion that she can’t portray perfectly. I know these character’s intimately, the illustrations boast.

Best friends Violet and Rose are at the park twig-digging. Rose finds something and brushes the dirt away like archaeologists do. It’s a locket. Nicola, Violet’s sister, experienced at jewellery making, gives her expert opinion on how to clean it. The girls decide to share the locket, but are preoccupied with the original owner and their loss.

Rose’s grandparents are visiting from overseas and plan to take the girls out for morning tea somewhere special. It is a formal occasion so they must dress up in their best clothes and comb their hair in a special braid to look elegant.

Violet still worries about the owner of the locket and their feelings of loss. Rose’s grandparents relate a story about a ring they lost years ago while young. They all discuss theories on things lost and found. They imagine who could have found the ring. Perhaps it had been someone who couldn’t afford one and needed it for their loved one? Possibilities are suggested. The girls decide to prepare a letter and bury it where the locket was found in case someone returns to search for it.

When mum’s basket of knitted things gets lost after she rests it on a seat for a moment, the theory of losing small things comes into play again. Violet and Rose find lots of ways to cheer mum up with their thoughtful and creative gifts, stories and theories on who may have found the knitted things, and what they could have been used for. They prepare a delightful formal occasion for mum as well, which proves to be the icing on the cake.

This perfectly crafted story has thought-provoking themes. Apart from the priceless value of family and friends, it has amazing alternate and almost profound ways of looking at things that get lost by reversing them to think about the finders of lost things. Ideal for the 5+ age group but also enjoyed by many adult fans as well.

I love the way new and unusual words are highlighted in bold and varying text to accentuate their individuality and newness. This encourages young readers to use their dictionaries or question the meaning of the words.

Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend

Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend by Anna Branford, illustrated by Sarah Davis (Walker Books)
HB RRP $19.95
ISBN 9781921977565
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Violet has moved into a new home. She goes on a discovery tour of the garden. She finds ants and rings of mushrooms. But it’s the knot in the fence that is the best find. She pushes it with her finger and through the hole it creates, she can see into the neighbour’s garden. It is a perfect garden, unlike theirs which is overrun with grasses.

Rose, a girl Violet’s age, lives there - a possible friend. Violet considers employing her Theory of Swapping Small Things as a stepping stone towards a friendly relationship.  But as the acquaintance progresses, Violet begins to feel bad about her preloved clothes, hand-made presents, and odd socks - seemingly imperfect things when measured against Rose’s beautiful and perfect new home and belongings.

Violet learns that comparing yourself and what you have, with what others are and have, can be painful. For what seems ordinary to the person that owns it, can appear a novelty to the other and that in true friendships, nobody notices these things anyway.

I’m a big fan of the Violet Mackerel books. They address concerns, fears and problems that children, and adults, frequently have, and approach them with an understanding of the problem and its resolution in a helpful manner. The tone of the narrative sounds just like the voice of a loving relative trying to relieve a child’s deep concern about something that is worrying them.

This is Book 5 in the delightful and insightful string of stories that also have some environmental flavour flowing within the major theme. The meaningful and well considered text is accentuated by Sarah Davis’ wonderful illustrations.

Violet Mackerel's Personal Space

 Violet Mackerel's Personal Space by Anna Branford, illustrated by Sarah Davis (Walker Books Australia)
HB RRP $19.95
ISBN 9781921529207
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton

What a joy Violet Mackerel is! This series of books is written straight from the heart of a young girl who in her own unique way makes sense of the world around her. In this title, the fourth in the series, Violet and her family are undergoing some big changes. Mum and Vincent are getting married (good) and the Mackerels must move house (not-so-good). Violet's older brother, Dylan, finds the changes particularly difficult and the tender way that Anna Branford shows the great emotional turmoil in Dylan touched me.

Sarah Davis's black and white illustrations fill the pages, expanding and interweaving with the text to further bring Violet's world to life.

Gentleness and tolerance triumphs in Violet's world and brings to mind those other great books of a beautiful family, The Kingdom of Silk series by Glenda Millard.

I cannot recommend this book and series highly enough and if, like me, you want more Violet she has her own website of activities. You can read the Buzz Words Books review of Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat here.

Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat

Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat by Anna Branford, illustrated by Sarah Davis (Walker Books Australia)
HB RRP $19.95
ISBN 9781921529191
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton

The delightful Violet Mackerel is back with her newest theory: the Theory of Helping Small Things. However, Violet finds that helping small things is not so easy when the ladybird Small Gloria dies in the home Violet has made her. Violet discovers all about natural habitats and Small Gloria provides the key to repairing Violet's relationship with her sister Nicola who is 'going through a stage'.

Beautifully written and pitched perfectly for younger readers, this third Violet book is a heart-warming exploration of family dynamics and of a child working out the world around her and how she and others fit into it. Branford also provides advice on how best to keep a ladybird in a jar including that it is best not to keep them for long.

Sarah Davis' ink and pencil illustrations grace every page bringing Violet and her family to life. Davis has managed to capture the very essence of Violet's personality. In particular, I loved the illustration of Violet searching for Small Gloria in the rain.

Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat is the most gorgeous book and a must-have for all book shelves.

Sounds Spooky

Sounds Spooky by Christopher Cheng and illustrated by Sarah Davis (Random House)

HB RRP $19.95

ISBN 978-1-8647-1879-9

Reviewed by Oliver Phommavanh

Sounds Spooky is a creepy picture book that will delight and scare kids at the same time. It revolves around a haunted house with a chirpy girly ghost who gets some unexpected visitors. It’s hard to say who’s scared more, her or the intruding kids!

Cheng delivers a wonderful prose that’s perfect for reading aloud, acting and performing. There’s a neat rhythm with the rhyme, action words and alliteration. It builds the tension as the ghost girl and kids edge closer to meeting each other.  

Davis is simply brilliant with her illustrations. She has created her pictures from the ground up. She’s made miniature models of the characters and settings. Its Claymation meets Paper Mache. The unique illustrations set the perfect tone for the book. There’s an awesome ‘behind the scenes’ video on the book’s website, (www.sounds-spooky.com).

Kids and adults alike will love this picture book. It’s perfect for Halloween and scary nights when you want a little fright. Highly recommended for ages 5 and up.