26th March 2015, Simon and Schuster, 208 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Summary from Simon and Schuster
Violet has spent her holidays exploring India with Godmother Celeste,
including visiting Celeste's good friend the Maharajah and meeting his
very special cockatoo. But when she returns home, Violet gets a surprise
visit from the Maharajah's butler, asking her to look after the bird.
Violet couldn't be more amazed (and her cat Pudding couldn't be less
pleased…), but the cockatoo holds the key to the Maharajah's fortune,
and someone is trying to bird-nap her! Can Violet discover who the
culprit is before they succeed?
Nayu's thoughts
I
see Violet's name and instantly think 'adventure, amazing climber'.
Sadly Violet can't add amazing actress to her substantial list of
skills which help her locate the hidden treasure, but thankfully she
has others she can rely on for that. I love how the illustrations
enhance the delightful tale, making me laugh especially when Violet
gets a lot of visitors in one day. Of all the things to take care of,
a parrot isn't the easiest to manage or to hide. There are several
'oh no!' moments which had me feel sorry for Violet even though I was
certain everything would work out by the end (it did). Roll of book 3
of this rereadable series! (I thought I'd reviewed book 1, so it might be on my list of books to review at some point).
Three Favourite Literary Heroines from Harriet
Three Favourite Literary Heroines from Harriet
Nayu here! It's a real pleasure to have Harriet here and learn about fictional girls she likes - I know and like 2 of the 3 - how many do you know and like?
Children’s
books are full of good female characters so whittling it down to a
few is tricky but these three are the girls that, for me, really jump
out from the pages.
Jo
from Little Women by Louisa M Alcott
 |
| Winona Ryder as Jo |
I
know I am not alone in having Jo as one of my favourites; I remember
the fuss when Winona Ryder was cast as her in the film in the 1990’s
because she was thought too pretty to be Jo, while no one really
cared who played Beth or Amy. And it is that magical combination of
Jo not being a beauty, combined with her brains and outspoken
tomboyishness that is so winning. She is instantly set her apart
from the fairy tale princess ideal – pretty and polite – that
little girls are bombarded with. I have to admit though, she did
slightly let me down by not marrying Laurie, who I was totally in
love with, but never mind… onto the next…
Nayu: I know & like Jo but was more of a Beth girl (Amy's funny & Meg is Meg ^o^)
Dido
Twite from the Wolves Series by Joan Aiken
The
Wolves of Willoughby Chase is one of my
favourite children’s books and partly because of Bonnie’s
feistiness. But she absolutely pales in comparison with the
marvellous Dido Twite. Cunning, bold, and with no boundaries, Dido
is a delight. And refreshingly she’s no beauty either – she’s
described as looking shrewish – and ‘her straw coloured hair was
stringy and sticky with jam and she wore a dirty satin dress two
sizes too small for her.’
Nayu: not my kind of read.
Lyra
from His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
 |
| Dakota Fanning as Lyra |
Lyra
is a little like Dido – she is the ‘half-wild, half-civilised
girl’ who takes us on Pullman’s amazing adventure through his
parallel world and she has become one of the best known characters in
modern children’s literature. Not much bothered by matters such
as telling the truth, she nevertheless has an incredibly strong sense
of loyalty and justice, and knows no fear, raising her fists to
battle with everything that Pullman throws at her.
Nayu: Although quite deep a story, Lyra was cool ^o^
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