Customer Reviews
Review 
2008-06-18
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 2008-05-27
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!
Dealing with Childish Obsessions 2007-12-04
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!
An absolute must have. 2007-09-21
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.
best of the olvia series 2007-08-23
this book is great for anyone who is an older sibling. the graphics are very modern and refreshing and i love the subtle details that are humorous to parents. my 5 year old just laughs and laughs about the "wooshie ga ga" part. in fact she has taught her baby sister how to say that. this a very well written book. no wasted words or pages like many childrens books are these days.
My least favorite Olivia book 
2007-08-07
Olivia, like many young pigs, experiences life very intensely. She is utterly obsessed with having her mother make her a red soccer shirt (even though the team color is green), until, of course, she discovers that her favorite toy, her very best toy, is missing, at which point she becomes utterly obsessed with finding it. She looks under the rug, the sofa, and the cat. She shouts accusingly at both her younger brother Ian and her baby brother William, who responds with an unsatisfactory "Wooshee gaga." That night (a dark and stormy one), she hears a horrible sound emanating from behind a closed door, and, in a dramatic scene illuminated by her flaming candelabra and showcased in a fold-out spread, she sees the family dog Perry chewing her favorite toy to bits. As devastating as this is to a passionate young pig, "even Olivia couldn't stay mad forever." She sews up her dismembered toy and falls asleep that very night cozied up with both it and the toy-wrecking Perry.
The New Yorker cartoonist and Caldecott Honor artist Ian Falconer (
Olivia, 2001) fills his pages with delightful visual stunts, such as the time-lapse drawings of Olivia waiting and waiting and waiting for her mom to sew her soccer shirt and the exaggeratedly scary shadow the toy-eating dog casts on the wall. Olivia fans will rejoice to see their favorite pig being her usual extreme self. (Ages 4 to 8)
--Karin Snelson
we LOVE Olivia 2007-03-27
this is just another great olivia story. my children love the slightly spooky part (when olivia finds the missing toy and the culprit) and i love the toy as repaired by olivia. falconer is a genius.
Books are more than just words.... 2007-02-24
My son absolutely loves Olivia and the Missing Toy, as do I. Some reviewers have mentioned that they felt Olivia is spoiled and ungrateful in this book. I will admit that she is a bit high strung, however, we have taken it as a perfect opportunity to talk about just that sort of thing while reading the book. The sole purpose of reading to your child does not have to be getting from one cover to another. It is a time to talk about the things you read as well. Point out the things that the characters do and talk with your child about how you feel about their actions. Don't just read the words. Talk about the pictures and the faces the characters are making. If you think Olivia has upset her mom, point that out to your child with the pictures. Ask your child questions about how they think the characters are feeling. Books can be so much more than just words on paper.
The best Olivia book 2007-02-11
I have to say, I completely disagree with those who have said this is less good than the other Olivias, and/or just the story of a spoilt little pig/girl. For me, this is a far more complex story: it's all about the complexity of family, and the addition of ANOTHER COLOR is the best metaphor I've encountered for what happens to relationships when it's more than two people involved. Personally I feel that those who think the heart of the book is Olivia's lack of manners aremissing the point: so much attention is given to the mother's facial expressions, which show us all we need to know about what that mother thinks of the father's spoiling response to the loss of the toy. I should also say that my 2 yr old daughter really loves the book, for reasons that have nothing to do with being spoilt: she loves (as do I) the way that when Olivia asks her baby brother, Ian, "WHERES MY TOY?", Ian replies, "Wooshie Gaga". This moment of comic genius is alone worth the price of the book.
Olivia...and the Missing Toy 2007-01-10
We all love Olivia! All the books are great...I highly recommend them! This one was too funny!
