This week we have been exploring the story of Violet’s Tempest guided by the wonderful resources from Authorfy created by Ian Eagleton himself.

Violet’s Tempest is a beautiful new story from Ian Eagleton with wonderful illustrations from the instantly recognisable Clara Anganuzzi. This is a fabulous collaboration and the end result is a stunning, emotive book filled with warmth, love, light and hope. I love the use of the natural world in the illustrations and the text. The story is closely lined and in places interweaved with The Tempest, the last play written by William Shakespeare.

I am so glad that we read and explored The Tempest before reading Violet’s Tempest. It helped the children to make the links between the two books. It really encouraged them to explore symbolism in the illustrations and investigate the figurative language in the text. It also helped the children connect the words taken directly from the play with the story, and make the links between Violet’s feelings and those of Ariel in The Tempest. The children were able to link Violet’s feelings to Ariel’s and see how playing Ariel helps Violet to work through her feelings with the love and support of her family.

William immediately noticed that Uncles Tony and Sebastian are named after Shakespeare’s Antonio and Sebastian.

This is a very clever book!

Violet’s Tempest is the story of a young girl who is feeling sad and anxious. Through the opening pages of the story we begin to understand that something has happened that has changed Violet’s voice from a giggle to a whisper. The children and I talked about this a lot, about what might have happened. We know that Violet lives with her Nan, so perhaps her parents have died. This is not mentioned and is open to interpretation and discussion. The children and I think that Violet’s mum is in some of the family photographs but we could not see her dad. We talked about loss and grief and all the ways families can change, reasons why Violet may not live with her parents. Reasons why Violet feels like a cloudy grey day.

Violet has been cast as Ariel in the school production of The Tempest. Violet is worried about it and her self confidence is so low she cannot think how she is going to play the part or why anyone would choose her for the role.

At home, Violet’s Nan helps her learn her lines and her uncles try to make her smile with suggestions for dance moves for the show. Violet cannot smile, she cannot dance, she just shrugs.

Through the interactions with her family we see that Violet is much loved and supported by her family. Nan is soft, calm and gently encouraging. We see her working hard on making the perfect costume for Violet’s Ariel. Her uncles try so hard to make their little niece smile. It is clear that everyone adores Violet including her teacher, who amidst the chaos of rehearsals gets all a fluster but never shouts or utters a cross word to Violet. With her he is endlessly patient, understanding and quietly encouraging. The double page spread of the rehearsals did remind me of my teacher days. I loved directing school productions, there was always a little chaos and always one child who needed a little extra support and nurturing because you knew they would be wonderful and you knew that having their moment on the stage would be so so good for them. I LOVE Mr Newland and teachers everywhere will feel connected to him. I love how he draws Violet out of herself through gentle questioning about Ariel’s feelings, knowing that those feelings would be familiar to Violet. I think this part reflects the kind of teacher Mr Eagleton must be!

As Violet explores her emotional connection with Ariel, she dreams of being able to escape to a forgotten island of wizards and fairies. She longs to be able to hideaway. Something so many of us can relate to. Clara Anganuzzi composes these pictures so well, with dream sequences nestled alongside what is actually happening. Bringing Violet’s feelings outside of her for us all to see. Ian’s words and Clara’s art come together so beautifully and are incredibly powerful in portraying Violet’s thoughts and emotions.

I love that Violet is pictured in a tree as she thinks about Ariel being stuck in a tree in The Tempest. Ariel and Violet both feel they cannot escape, one from a tree, one from their own emotional turmoil, their own tempest.

As the school play draws near we see Violet snuggled up with her Nan. Nan reassures Violet that it is okay to be worried and scared but that we must not stop those feelings from letting us do things. We must not let opportunities pass us by. As Nan talks with compassion and empathy to Violet they are surrounded by photos of happier times with friends and family, and the person we think must be Violet’s mum.

Violet inspired by her Nan sets to work, rehearsing, rehearsing and rehearsing. She is still worried and scared but she has been inspired by her loving Nan to face her fears.

Violet finds this hard but her teacher can see that she is trying and helps his pupil again, knowing just what to say to help Violet succeed.

“I want you to think about how Ariel will feel once they’re free?”
Violet thinks of Nan and takes a deep breath.
“Like a wild bird soaring through a storm,” she whispers.
Mr Newland smiles and nods.

In this exchange Violet’s teacher knows. He knows that not only will she smash the part of Ariel but also that Violet will be okay. He knows that he did the right thing casting her in the role and that he has played a small part in freeing Violet from her tempest, from the emotional torment within. This part of the book had me in tears because I have been that teacher, taking a risk with a vulnerable child because you believe what you are doing will help them and the relief that floods you when you see that you were right and that the child you care for is going to be okay. A powerful hugely emotional element of this story for any teacher I think.

Again the amazing illustrations show Violet and her thoughts and feelings side by side with awe inspiring effect. My children loved talking through the illustrations and how they added depth to the story and more of an insight into Violet’s personality.

The children and I all clapped and cheered as Violet took to the stage and twisted and glided as Ariel, like a bird swooping through the skies.

She was Ariel.

She was free.

Violet makes it on to the stage. She faces her fears with determination and courage. She is a master of her own fate. She is free. She is free and ready to move forward with love and hope in her heart. Her voice has changed once more, from a whisper to a roar.

We see Violet leave the stage, proudly hand in hand with her Nan, leading her awesome family though the still starlit streets. The wind has gone, her uncles are hand in hand and everything feels right with the world.

Writing this review I am crying again, because loss and grief are so hard. Living with loss can feel impossible. This book shows children what it means to be brave. We are most courageous when we are scared of doing something but we do it anyway, when we are scared of facing our fears but we face them anyway.

I had no idea how to write this review this morning, now I do not want to stop writing. There is so much more I want to say about the use of weather to illustrate Violet’s emotions, the clever way her dress shows how she is feeling through the story, the way the photos on the walls show some of the family story including the wedding of Uncle Tony and Uncle Sebastian.

This is an incredibly clever, beautiful story. I love it with all my heart and I am so very thankful to have been able to read it with my children. Just stunning!

“Merrily, merrily shall I live now, under the blossom that hangs on the bough.”

There is always hope.
Hope and love.

We received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review