Olivia! by Ian Falconer (Caldecott Medal 2001) is a picture book that perfectly captures the nature of being a child: everything is fun and drama to the little pig Olivia.
She wears herself out. She finds her little brother annoying. She likes to try on clothes. The illustrations expand on the subtleties of the text. For example, the text says “she’s had enough” playing at the beach, and the illustration shows a very sunburned Olivia.
I like the touch of color given to the charcoal drawings. The bright red nicely contrasts and also gives that spark of life to Olivia’s personality. I think little children would relate very well to this little child-like animal.
