Olivia . . . and the Missing Toy - Hardcover

Falconer, Ian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689852916 ISBN 13: 9780689852916

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003

Synopsis

From #1 New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Honor–winning author Ian Falconer comes an entertaining story starring everyone's favorite pig and her favorite toy.

Olivia has one toy that she loves more than anything. She feeds him, dresses him and takes him everywhere. So when he disappears, Olivia is FURIOUS!

She looks under the rug, under the sofa, under the cat. She shouts at Ian and baby William, she cries, she stomps...all to no avail. Then, one dark and stormy night, Olivia hears a noise...Clutching a candelabra, she creeps bravely into her bedroom, and sees a huge menacing shadow on the wall. Who is this monster, and what's that hanging from his jaws?

All is resolved peacefully in this entertaining story starring our favourite pig and her favourite toy. Now available as an eBook with audio!

About this title

About the Author

Ian Falconer is the author and illustrator of the Olivia book series, including Olivia, Olivia Helps with Christmas, Olivia and the Fairy Princesses, Olivia and the Missing Toy, Olivia Saves the Circus, to name a few. Falconer’s illustrations have graced numerous covers of The New Yorker. He has also designed sets and costumes for the New York City Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, the Royal Opera House, and many others. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Olivia is back, the indomitable individualist now coaxing her mother to make her a new soccer uniform in red, not the "really unattractive green" of the rest of the team. During the sewing session, Olivia's stuffed animal disappears and the fearless piglet must solve the mystery. She eventually tracks it down, but it is now in pieces, courtesy of the dog. Olivia's tears are surprisingly easily diverted by her father's glib promise from behind the newspaper to replace it with "the very best toy in the whole world," but the independent protagonist resews it herself and even improves on the original. Once again, the illustrations are stylish and witty, now extended by the addition of green to Falconer's trademark charcoal-and-gouache black, white, and red palette. The inclusion of photographic reproductions (the sphinx in a dream and Martha Graham on the bedroom wall) adds a nice contrast, and the endpapers show a comic strip of the little pig trying to get her toy to sit up. The changes in the size of the typeface to indicate volume of speech as Olivia interrogates her little brothers, and as her distress escalates, are hilarious. But the plot meanders a little, and it seems as though Falconer is letting style overtake story. Olivia is in danger of starting to appear more like a bratty bully than the charming nonconformist we know and love. Still, her many fans will enjoy this latest adventure of the piglet turned detective.
Jane Barrer, Washington Square Village Creative Steps, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreS-Gr.1. Olivia (2001), the first book about the little piglet, was heavy on charm and light on story. The second, Olivia Saves the Circus (2002), went a bit overboard with its story of this every child's exaggerating. This book gets everything right; the story is simple yet compelling, and Falconer's art is as imaginative and inventive as ever. When the story begins, Olivia is mostly concerned with her soccer uniform. It's green, and she doesn't like it. Mother works on making a new one in Olivia's signature red, but by the time she's finished, Olivia's attention is focused elsewhere: her toy kitty is missing. Olivia looks everywhere, and she fiercely interrogates her brothers. It's only after the lights go out during a dark and stormy night that she finds the real culprit. A marvelous foldout reveals the "monster" that captured her "best toy." As the most successful picture books do, this works on several levels: it's great for young listeners, who will respond to the action and the art, and for adults, who will smile with recognition at lively Olivia. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689852916
• ISBN 13: 9780689852916
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Falconer Ian
• Number of pages: 42