Olivia
Ian Falconer
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (2000)
Meet our little super cute Olivia! However, her hat was a tad bit too big and kept falling over her eyes. Her dad ended up wearing the hat, but the merchants were still thrilled to meet Olivia and everyone knew the character.
I ADORE the Olivia series. She's sassy, fun, and goofy (in the way that every toddler I know is!). Ian Falconer is an illustrator for the New Yorker Magazine and after looking at his body of work—his images are very familiar to me. I even have a package of cards that have his image of an old lady pulling a dog along, but I had no idea that it was illustrated by the author of the Oliva books.
Apparently, he made the book for his niece Olivia. He tried to market it and it was rejected. Publishers told him that he should have someone else write the words. He stuck it in a closet for four years. (Oh man, can you imagine how bleak it would be for toddlers if Olivia had remained in the closet never to be birthed).
Later, Anne Schwartz from Atheneum Books called him and asked if he was interested in making a kids' book. He pulled out Olivia to show her and she liked it pretty much as is.
After researching Ian's background, I have a better idea as to why I like this book so much. For one thing, he is a set designer and I think the pictures in the book have that sort of stylized presentation. He says that he keeps things very simple and uncluttered, so that you can really see the facial expressions and so that a child could read the book alone without knowing the words. Also, his use of few colors harkens back to the old days when it was too expensive to use multiple colors. In this case, however, he uses only a few colors to enhance the book rather than for financial reasons. Finally, I like his angles. For instance, there is one page where Olivia is looking up at a painting. You can just feel how small and impressionable she is.
Olivia has a fun website with craft ideas, games, coloring pages etc. Check it out!!!
Also, here's a great interview with Ian. He is wonderfully humble and I wouldn't mind spending an afternoon hearing him talk.
Love Olivia, love this costume, love this girl!
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