Gearhead Mom

Friday, October 12, 2007

An Open Letter to Ian Falconer

Posted by Missy W. @ 9:10 AM

Dear Mr. Falconer,

You had me at hello. Really, you did. When I met Olivia, I thought to myself, well there’s a sassy little pig I can hang out with. What a great female character to share with my little girl. I mean, how many pigs do you know who can paint like Jackson Pollock, imagine herself as vocally talented as Maria Callas and can scare the pants off of her little brother? What’s not to love? I especially love the part of Olivia’s day when she moves Edwin, the cat. Then moves him some more. Sy really resonates with that. She understands the importance of moving a feline from room to room.

Of course it did cause me some concern when I stumbled across Olivia eating dinner. Are those meatballs she is eating? Surely not PORK meatballs, Mr. Falconer. Ah well, I suppose even toddler pigs have their favorite meals.

It warms my heart that even after Olivia paints on the walls, torments both brother and cat and completely wears her mother out (does dad really work such long hours?), she is lovingly put to bed. It reinforces the fact that while toddlers can be completely maddening, they are truly the most magical creatures on earth. Brava, Olivia. Brava!

After bonding so well with Olivia, I was pleased to find other Olivia offerings aside from her adventures, such as Olivia Counts and Olivia’s Opposites. Sy loves to count, so I thought this would be a great place to start. Alas, all good things must come to end. Here is where my love affair with you and your porcine franchise began to falter. Did the heady successes of Olivia’s adventures make you slothful, Ian? All that money make you happier than a pig in slop?

I was left feeling less than satisfied with Olivia Counts. A simply illustrated count from one-to-ten book, Olivia’s spunky escapades are sprinkled throughout. Unlike Olivia’s Opposites, I think only seven or so of the images are recycled from Olivia. I understand that little ones love repetition, but isn’t character repetition sufficient? I can count things as easily in my living room than the strange things in your book. The subjects of the numbers are a bit esoteric for my two year old: four aunts, seven accessories, eight cousins. Accessories? I understand the importance of proper accessorizing (although my mother always taught me to accessorize in threes, not sevens), but don’t you think that’s an odd concept for a young children’s book? We come from a big family and have a good assortment of cousins, but Sy has a hard enough time figuring out that her aunt is my sister, let alone the fine art of cousinry. If you are going to use the same ideas as your original book, how about eight of Olivia’s fabulous paintings? Or perhaps eight meat-substitute meatballs? Maybe even eight skyscraper-height sand castles?

And then there’s Olivia’s Opposites. Again, there is the plight of many recycled images, but the issues for me go a bit deeper than that. In our house, opposites are easy to point out and all around us: up/down; high/low; on/off; dark/bright; empty/full, etc. The book incorporates some of the more accessible pairings, but then you throw one out of left field like coming/going (difficult for a young reader to grasp as it just looks like Olivia is goofing off on her scooter), plain/fancy (again, I understand that you have tapped into the fact that kids love to dress up, but putting lipstick and a bow on the pig does not necessarily make her “fancy” to me). There are more obvious opposites in the book, such as quiet/loud, but I think that Olivia roaring at a lion might not be the easiest way to illustrate the point.

Maybe I was just expecting more. I love your piglet so much, but these two books just feel like an exercise done under contract, not for the love of all things Olivia. Were my expectations too high? I think you need to stick to Olivia saving the circus, finding toys or forming a band, and leave the more basic exercises to the pros, like Maisy the Mouse.

Off to help Olivia find her missing toy,
Missy

Snapshot:
• Olivia is one of my all-time favorite books to read to Sy. A must have for any sassy child in your brood.
• Olivia Counts and Olivia’s Opposites read as if they were churned out by Mr. Falconer’s publishers while he was away on holiday, living high on the hog.
•    Recycled images and odd concept choices make the books visually dull, lacking all the charms offered in Falconer’s first offering.

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