Violet and Victor Write
the Most Fabulous Fairy Tale

Violet is determined to write the most fabulous fairy tale that has ever been imagined! Her twin, Victor, is not in the mood for make-believe.

“I was born in a castle!” Violet says.

“You were born in a hospital,” Victor replies.

But when an evil witch arrives in Violet’s story, will Victor help write an ending that saves the day? Join the twins on an adventure through Fairy Tale Kingdom as they celebrate the joy of storytelling and reading! Read the MediaKit here.

Kid Reviews

Press Reviews

“These twins bicker, but ultimately come to terms with one another, coauthoring a compelling story wherein an evil witch is overcome with compelling fairytales. As Victor speaks in orange and writes on orange paper, and Violet in purple, the dialogue and text will be easily followed by young readers. The illustrations are breathtaking and strikingly original, making use of recycled reference material, such as the text of Oedipus used in the witch’s castle. The illustrations more than do their job in enhancing the theme of twins as authors. A follow-up to last year’s Violet and Victor Write the Best-Ever Bookworm Book (Little, Brown, 2014), this particular story has its own beginning, middle, and end, and appears not to lean on its predecessor in any way.”
– School Library Connection

“Violet and Victor are back in this follow-up to Violet and Victor Write the Best-Ever Bookworm Book (2014). The twins (Violet is six minutes older—it’s important) are once again at odds. Creative, exuberant Violet wants to write “the most fabulous fairy tale in the history of fairy tales,” while pragmatic Victor (“Talking frogs don’t exist”) wants to write about real amazing animals from Australia. Piece by piece and with more than a little arguing—the twins cobble together a story that showcases both. The mixed-media illustrations are dynamic and fun. The fantastical elements are portrayed as cut-paper collages: a dragon is folded from a map, a castle is designed with layered storybook pages, and more. Violet’s contributions are hand lettered on purple paper, while Victor’s are orange, making it easy to keep track of which twin writes which part. The siblings may spat, but they make a good team: as soon as their fictional selves fly off on a large cockatoo (because dragons don’t exist), it’s clear that all will be well.”
– Booklist

“Twins Violet and Victor are back for another bout of collaborative (and sometimes competitive) writing. Violet, who loves writing and storytelling, sets about creating “the most fabulous fairy tale in the history of fairy tales.” Victor, engrossed in his project about Australian animals, pooh-poohs make-believe. The twins spar in text type that’s color-coded with their T-shirts—violet (natch) and orange, respectively. The tale they jointly create is written on rectangles of lavender or orange notebook paper, hand-lettered by the artist. Violet’s rather schmaltzy start (“Fairy Tale Kingdom is a marvelous place”) gets a jolt when Victor inserts a wicked witch who’s annoyed over the portrayal of witches in fairy tales. She bans them, banishing “Princess Violet to an island in Fairy Tale Ocean. Violet could never write another fairy tale.” Dismayed but undaunted, Violet recovers, regaling the witch with minitales of talented, happy, generous witches who bake cakes to share (with much-loved Australian animals, in fact). Murguia layers digital compositions with printed pages, doilies, maps, and swirls of stippled paint. Dark blue-greens and purples signal the fairy tale’s arc, while white space is employed for the twins in situ. Their faces and skinny limbs loosely sketched against white space, the two join the marketplace’s growing legion of cartoonish, de facto-Caucasian characters. A jam-packed view of the creative process of two imaginative siblings.”
– Kirkus

‘Writing a book becomes easy with a little help. Readers will take a whimsical adventure with Violet and her twin brother Victor as they collaborate to write the best-ever book. Each of their voices is heard as they discover the joys of making a story come alive. Victor likes scary, creepy things, while Violet prefers ideas that are sweet and cute. Their goal is to save the library from the hungry bookworm. Their concerted effort results in a creative story and the sweetest tale ever. The illustrations are true to the color-coded text and are fun to view.”
– School Library Connection