Helped my daughter overcome fear of shadows

books:

	• Olivia . . . and the Missing Toy Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books, 2003 - 42 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An absolute must have.

I am not sure who enjoys reading this book more me or my twin daughters, it is full of expression and mystery, we all enjoy the series.

Dealing with Childish Obsessions

As a parent, I've always been drawn to children's stories where the child is so silly that it makes my own children realize where they have the same weakness. When that happens, we laugh about the silly person in the story and assure one another that we would never be so silly. Naturally, such a self-drawn lesson is more powerful than one that comes from me.

Every child becomes obsessed about certain things. This book will make good reading for them. Hopefully, they will learn by seeing themselves in the piggish mirror of Olivia.

I was especially attracted to the 12 part cartoon on the end papers of the book that show Olivia using tape to get her favorite bear to sit up. That little wordless story nicely sets the stage for the main event within.

The opening page of the book provided me with enormous chuckles. I could barely stand to leave the page. Olivia is seated on a camel in front of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid with her toy. The caption is "One day Olivia was riding a camel in Egypt . . ." But it all turns out to be but a dream. When she awakes, her mother reminds he it's time for soccer practice that morning. The red-loving Olivia dislikes that her uniform comes in "a really unattractive green." Olivia asks her mom to make a red soccer shirt instead. Olivia's mom agrees, but Olivia finds waiting to be intolerable so she takes her toy bear out to play with the cat. Finally, the shirt is done . . . but horror of horrors, her toy is missing! She throws a fit and starts looking around. While playing the piano on the dark and stormy night, Olivia hears a noise and searches out the cause while carrying a large candelabrum. She finds her toy has been chew up by the dog, Perry! Her father appeases Olivia by offering to buy her another toy. But in the meantime, she fixed the toy and made it even more humorous than ever. Olivia swears off dog books as a result, but she eventually forgives Perry and lets him back into bed with her.

To me the strength of the story was the Olivia takes the initiative to solve the problem of her missing toy . . . and then doesn't hold a grudge. The message is that things happen, but we shouldn't take them too seriously if we can repair matters. That's a good lesson for us all.

I think this book will be even more amusing for low-key children who don't get easily upset as they see how another child might react.

I love you, Olivia!

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Review

Do you like pig books? If you do you will like Olivia and The Missing Toy by Ian Falconer. I like this book because I think its funny.

It's about a pig that is named Olivia. In the story Olivia the pig puts her doll down on her bed, looks away, then looks back and it is gone. She looks and does not find it.

I'm not going to tell you more so go pick it up at a store near you and find out what happens. You will be surprised who took her doll.

Helped my daughter overcome fear of shadows

My 3 year old daughter LOVES Olivia and this book too. Whenever we misplace something we always check the places that Olivia does in the book. Her favorite part of the book is the page that shows Perry's shadow against the wall. I thought this page might be a little scary as the dog's shadow is large and tooth-filled - but it wasn't. We go through and identify each body part and its shadow on the wall. Going through this has shown my daughter that shadows aren't scary but usually of things that we love. Great book!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Funny, true and ingenious, Olivia's legions of fans will not be disappointed with this new story of the funky little pig and her fierce attachment to her favourite toy. Olivia has one toy that she loves more than anything - a stuffed animal that she feeds and dresses and takes everywhere. And when he disappears, Olivia is furious! She shouts at Ian and baby William, but they plead innocence. She screams, she cries, she stomps, but is left without her toy and heartbroken. Then, one dark and stormy night, Olivia hears a noise! Candelabra in hand, she bravely creeps into her bedroom to face a huge menacing shadow on the wall, a piece of her beloved toy in its jaws!

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