Of these four books, Olivia is the first one I hadn't heard about before reading it. One of my friends recommended it and I'm so glad she did! Olivia is written and illustrated by Ian Falconer and is a Caldecott Honor book. Olivia is about a pig named Olivia who is busy, busy, busy.I think part of Olivia's personality was modeled after me and my life. Let's look at some similarities:
-Olivia loves to sing loud, I had (and still have) a song for everything...usually very loud
-Olivia has a little brother who is always copying her (in the picture it shows him trying to put on lipstick while she plays dress up), I have a little brother who always wanted to play dress up with me
-Olivia loves to play dress up and has to try on all her outfits, I had THREE huge tubs of dress up clothes
-Olivia isn't sleepy when is time to nap, I never understood why I had to sleep when there were so many fun things to do
-Olivia's favorite painting at the museum is of ballerinas, I wanted to be a ballerina so bad as a little girl I couldn't stand it!
-At night time Olivia is not sleepy and wants her Mommy to read five books, I always wanted my Mom or Daddy to tell one more story or for me to have "10 more minutes" to stay up and read
I will have to say, I never painted on the walls (I'm sure my parents are so thankful for that!)
I think Olivia is the little girl who everyone was or knows. I loved reading about Olivia and her spunky antics. There wasn't really a theme or hidden "moral" like many children's books have (or people infer from them), but it was a feel good, fun story that made me smile. At first glance this book reminded me of Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, about a little girl mouse. Really, though, the main similarity is that they are both about girl animals that live like real people; Chrysanthemum isn't quite as spirited and carefree as Olivia, but they are both whimsical and sweet stories. Olivia also reminded me a little of the Eloise books by Kay Thompson.
The illustrations are mostly black in white, with accents in red (a jump rope, an outfit), and a few full color pictures sprinkled in. The two pictures that Olivia looks at in the museum are real paintings (a Degas and a Jackson Pollock) and they are in full color rather than the black, white, and red. Even though there isn't an actual mention of ballet in the book, there are several things that have a ballet feel to them as well as a picture of ballerinas that Olivia looks at while in the museum. When I got to the end and read about the author, Ian Falconer, I saw that he designed sets and costumes for the New York City Ballet. I could definitely see how that previous work influenced his book!
I absolutely loved Olivia! This is a must read for anyone who is a girl or knows a girl. Yes, that means you.
(Mom, I know of a certain little cousin, much like myself, who needs to get this book for Christmas!)
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