Violet Mackerel’s Natural Habitat is the third book in the series. Violet Mackerel is a confident and plucky young character created by an author who is very much in touch with how young girls really think and feel.
Many children have, at some point, scrambled around the garden and / or beach looking for insects, bugs and other interesting animals ending with the question ‘can we take it home?!’ The endless fascination they have with creating a great home for it is captured brilliantly in Natural Habitat. This story focuses on the natural habitat Violet attempts to make for a ladybird she has found. As the story develops she learns what it really needs and then uses that knowledge to help her older sister.
Family dynamics are effortlessly weaved in to the Violet Mackerel books, such as sitting endlessly in a coffee shop whilst mum talks with a friend over “an extremely long cup of tea.” Violet’s older sister Nicola is described as “grumpy almost all of the time” but “Mum says it is just a stage” – I think there may be a few households who can relate to that! Their relationship is developed beautifully as the sisters come together when Violet has a brilliant idea for Nicola’s latest, and nearly late, school science project.
This chapter book is perfect for the younger children in this age group who are really getting to grips with chapter books. More confident readers will find it more straight forward, and for them it will become what reading should really be about – reading simply for pure enjoyment.
Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot (Book 1)
Violet Mackerel’s Remarkable Recovery (Book 2)
Violet Mackerel’s Personal Space (Book 4)
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