We were kindly gifted 'The Adventures of Violet and Bruce, Destroying the Noise Machine' to review which we have enjoyed reading a number of times together. It is a light-hearted fun book about a little girl and her pet sausage dog who are on a mission to defeat the noisy vacuum.
Each page has fun and engaging illustrations for little ones and there is a catchy rhythm to the story. A lot of children have a special relationship with their pet dog and you can see that this is reflected in this book - friends for life, getting up to mischief together!
We asked author Lesley-Anne Thompson a few questions,
What was your inspiration for the book?
My inspiration is my daughter, Violet, and our pet sausage dog, Bruce. I was asked to write a poem for Violet’s nursery back in January and decided to do it about Violet and Bruce’s mischievous friendship. It was well received and I think it was my husband who suggested it would be good as a children’s book. So I started writing more stories, focusing on household adventures. They give me great writing inspiration. I’ve watched their bond grow as Violet has developed and I always find she recruits Bruce whenever she’s up to something cheeky, e.g. stealing crisps from the baby bag.
Are there any other titles in the pipeline? Yes, there is another title in the pipe line. The next book will be, The Strange Bowl with a Hole which I hope to publish in March 2020. I am an independent author and publisher which as any indie author will know, can be a pricey and prolonged process. Most of us have additional jobs as well as families to manage and prioritise.
What are your favourite books for babies and toddlers?
We love sensory books - the That’s Not My... series, I’ve found Violet absolutely loved interacting with from an early age. Personally, the Dr. Zeuss books are my favourite - I find the rhythm and flow engaging and love the sounds that emanate from the page when reading. You could say Dr. Suess is an inspiration too, particularly when writing the rhythmic flow for the Violet and Bruce stories.
What would you like to see more of in children books?
This is something I’ve wanted to shout from the roof tops as I’ve worried Violet and Bruce’s story wasn’t meaningful or philosophical enough. I wanted Violet and Bruce’s story to be fun, simple yet entertaining and exciting rather than have a deeper meaning. Of course, I can highlight the friendship of Violet and Bruce which is a driving force for the stories. There’s the affection, loyalty, respect and trust there but what I wanted more than most was children (babies and toddlers) to interact and find the book, FUN! I guess that’s what I would love to see more of in children’s books. More focus on what our babies and toddlers would want to see rather than what we as parents would like them to read.
ZaZa loves dogs and funnily enough hates the sound of the hoover so she could really relate to this book and we're looking forward to seeing the other adventures of Violet and Bruce. I just hope she doesn't copy Violet and get out of bed in the middle of the night to destroy our noisy machine...although I do want an excuse to get the new Dyson!
You can buy the book with 20% discount over on their website using code SausageDog20 or win a copy of the book over on our Instagram or Facebook pages.