Violet Mackerel's Formal Occasion : Book 8

VIOLET MACKEREL is extremely happy when she finds a BEAUTIFUL LOCKET buried in the dirt. But it is hard to be happy when your mum has lost a basket of precious KNITTED THINGS. What Violet needs is a BRILLIANT IDEA to help Mum feel better. Perhaps a FORMAL OCCASION will do the trick!

Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot (Book 1) was Honour Book at the 2011 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards for Younger Readers. Book 5, Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend, was short-listed for the same award in 2014, and Book 7, Violet Mackerel’s Helpful Suggestion, was a Notable Book for this award in 2015.

About the Author

Anna Branford was born in the Isle of Man and spent her early childhood in Sudan and Papua New Guinea before moving to Australia. Creative writing was her favourite subject at school and she wrote stories in all these different countries. Anna is a doll maker and a lecturer in Sociology and Children's Literature at Victoria University. Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot was her first published work for Walker Books Australia and was Honour Book in the 2011 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers category.

In 2013, Violet Mackerel’s Personal Space won the Young Readers/Picture Book Award category of the Australian Family Therapists’ Award and was short-listed for the 2013 Children’s Peace Literature Awards. Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend was short-listed for the 2014 CBCA Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers category.

Sarah Davis began illustrating picture books in 2008, and is now ruined for any other career. She has an honours degree in literature, and her love of language and narrative underpins her illustration work. As a self-taught artist, she is constantly experimenting with new ways to tell stories visually. Sarah has illustrated more than 37 books and been short-listed for 30 major awards in Australia and New Zealand. Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot was Honour Book in the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Book of the Year Awards in the Younger Readers category in 2011 and Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend was short-listed in the Children’s Book Council Australia Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers category in 2014.

Sarah is an ambassador for Room to Read, and the Illustrator Coordinator for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (Australia East/NZ).