Precious book about little Olivia who is always into some kind of trouble. The day is spent with her as she is put into time out for misbehaving, refusing to nap, and argues with her little brother Ian. In the end, Olivia's mother puts her to bed and kisses her soflty and lets her know that she will always love her- no matter what. ( )

Olivia

Olivia is the story of a little girl piggy, who lives the life of just about any 3-6 year old child. "She is very good at wearing people out." and also consequently wearing herself out. Olivia has a little brother and cat, she plays with them and annoys them. Olivia also does normal things like get herself around in the morning, take naps, and get dressed. She has gone to the beach and learned to make sand castles, she even goes to look at art at the museum. Eventually Olivia gets herself into a bit of trouble, but all is well, mom still reads her a story at bedtime.

This book is a neat little modern fantasy that affirms the realities of everyday life for a VERY busy and active child. Its chock full of humor and the pictures are given the Caldecott honor; they are bright and fun to look at. The reading is easy and very light, something nice for the interest level of around 3-6 years of age.

Some of the problems with the book are that it is very "Girls oriented", the book is also as a television cartoon, which may be noted as a distraction from the story for some readers, in this particular case I think the fact is neutral.

Extension activities for the classroom can include talking about what we do sequentially each day and how we make our schedules/ agendas for the day. Each child could write out a schedule for what they really do on a Saturday and one for what they would LIKE to do on Saturday. As children get older the schedules become more complex. ( )

Olivia the pig has fun dressing up, going to the beach, visiting an art museum, and all sorts of other things. The art of this book is stunningly rendered in charcoal with hints of red among lots of white space. Text and pictures meander around the pages, giving life to the real and imagined activities of this lively pig. A few famous paintings make an appearance when her family visits the art museum, where Olivia's reaction to a piece of abstract art (“I could do that in about five minutes”) will bring a smile to the faces of all, and the next page will bring an even bigger laugh. A bold style, an active heroine, and a wonderful treatment of imagination will make readers glad that Olivia's exploits continue in other books. ( )

This book is fantasy, because Olivia is a pig performing human actions, this is also personification. This book's setting is background, as it does not matter where or when it takes place. The book's media is charcoal and goache.

This book has a great strong female character for litte girls. Olivia is smart, opinionated, and very self aware. This book is also great because the illustrations are eye catchy black and white water colors with a splash of red in various places. Olive is a great series character ( )