One would never think of a home improvement store like Menard’s as a place to purchase books, but they do have a small book aisle and I’ve found a lot of my Sandra Boynton books there. I was in the store the other day and had hoped to purchase more of her books but sadly I’ve purchased all that they carry. Of course that didn’t stop me from looking over the display and finding another book to purchase.
The all white cover of a book with a pig in red dress and striped tights caught my eye. Across the top it’s title, in big black letters said Olivia. How could I resist this Caldecott Honor Book?
This board book is approximately 8 1/2” x 7 1/2” and is sturdy with thick pages. I love buying board books because then I don’t worry about the little hands in my daycare tearing pages.
Olivia is a cute little white pig who wears everyone out with all of her antics. She even wears herself out, but of course never wants her nap or her bedtime. Hmmm, no wonder I wanted this book, it sounds just like some children I know and take care of!
Every day Olivia is supposed to take a nap.
“It’s time for your you-know-what.”
Her mother says.
Of course Olivia’s not at all sleepy.
We meet Olivia’s family including her little brother Ian and her dog Perry and cat Edwin. We see a bit about her day, including the fun she has building a sand castle…..that looks like the Empire State Building!
The illustrations are done in charcoal and gouache and are done with a minimum of detail, but it is in the small details that this book is such a hit. All pages have a white background and colors are limited to white, black and red, with charcoal shading of the black so that there is also a gray look. The text is small/medium black font that is placed in different places on different pages. It is most often near each of the separate illustrations on the page.
At one point in the story Olivia is at a museum with her mother and is staring at a painting of ballerina’s. This is actually a picture of the Degas painting Ballet Rehearsal on the Set. of 1874.
In this same museum scene there is also the Jackson Pollock painting Autumn Rhythm #30. After this painting Olivia decides she can do artwork like this…on her bedroom wall. On the next page we see her sitting on the stairs and just the words Time Out written. Sonny and Cindy absolutely love this page. I really love that some the children are being exposed to some actual art while we are reading this book.
One of our favorite pages is where Olivia is getting dressed. The page shows all the things that she tries on. On the two page spread she is trying on 17 different things. Not only are there dresses, but things like one shot of her is in just sunglasses and carrying a purse or another is just a red pair of sneakers. This page is very interesting and we spend a good deal of time going over it and commenting on the many things Olivia wears.
I loved this book but I wasn’t quite sure how my young charges would feel about it. I read it through once and they were pretty quiet but then 2 year old Cindy said “again.” So I read it again and then Cindy says “Dat’s a cute one!” She then asked to sit and look at herself. I love hearing children read a book after we’ve read it and she has done this many times with this book.
The very simple way this book is written, the almost no story and yet a cute story, the illustrations that focus mainly on a little white pig are all reasons why this is a fun book and would be great for children from around 2 and up to around 7 or so.
Ian Falconer wrote and illustrated this 32 page board book and Atheneum Books for Young Readers published this book in 2000.
Animals - General Juvenile / Children's Nonfiction - "Eloise has met her match! We love Olivia!" -- Hilary Knight A new and unexpected heroine emerges...More at Barnes and Noble
The New York Times #1 bestselling, Caldecott Honor-winning, heart-stealing Olivia is now available in a classic board book edition. Full color.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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