Our precocious little pig is back in two more adventures, “Olivia Saves the Circus,” and “Olivia and the Missing Toy.” Let’s take a look and see what Olivia’s up to now.
In “Olivia Saves the Circus,” we find Olivia getting ready for school. First she helps her mother by feeding her brothers. I’m using the term “help” loosely here. Then she gets dressed in a really boring school uniform, which she accessorizes with big red bows and striped tights (tre chic!) Riding her scooter down the street, she gets to school on time to participate in show and tell. Today she’s telling the class about her vacation.
Her mother took her to the circus, but when they got there, all the circus performers were out with ear infections. Thankfully, Olivia was there to step in. She drew designs on herself with a marker and became Olivia the Tatooed Lady, and then she was Olivia the Lion Tamer. She walked the tightrope, wore stilts, and rode the unicycle, too. Luckily she was there to save the circus.
Her teacher wasn’t terribly impressed with her report. Olivia can’t help it if some people have no imagination.
In “Olivia and the Missing Toy,” it’s time for Olivia to get ready for her soccer game. She detests her uniform shirt; it’s a bright green, and she hates green. She would much rather have red, and asks her mother for a red shirt instead. It doesn’t bother her at all that she would look different from everyone else on the team; in fact, that’s the point. This little piggy is an individual.
Mother got to work sewing a new shirt. Olivia waited. And waited. And waited. It can be very hard to wait. Finally, Mother presents the new shirt, and Olivia loves it. But wait – where did her toy go? It was sitting on her bed and now it’s gone!
Finally she discovers that her dog has chewed her toy to bits. Daddy promises her a new one, but she patches the old one as best she can. Sentiment runs deep with pigs.
This story didn’t seem to have much of a point to it, but the illustrations are very cute, as usual. The facial expressions used by the author are priceless and the books are worth looking into just for the pictures of this adorable little pig.
(Both books were published by Atheneum Books.)
Related Blogs:
This Little Piggy’s Book of Manners