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Summary
Summary
Step into the ring with Olivia, where the lights are dim, the color soft, and a little girl's imagination is the main attraction.
Olivia remembers her trip to the circus very well. The performers were out sick, so she had to do everything. She...
-rode on a unicycle
-jumped on a trampoline
-juggled five balls!
-tamed lions
-and flew through the air.
Author Notes
Ian Falconer was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut on August 25, 1959 and died on March 7, 2023 at 63 years old. He studied art history at New York University and painting at Parsons School of Design and Otis Art Institute. He is a writer and artist who has illustrated many covers of The New Yorker magazine. He has also designed sets and costumes for the New York City Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Olivia, his first children's picture book, received many awards including the Caldecott Honor in 2001. He has published several more picture books about Olivia including Olivia Saves the Circus, Olivia Forms a Band, Olivia Helps with Christmas, and Olivia Goes to Venice. He also illustrated Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by author David Sedaris.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Could there be a more ideal place for Olivia than in the center ring under the Big Top? It will come as no surprise to her many fans that this is how Olivia claims to have spent her summer vacation. Using the same day-in-the-life format as his show-stopping debut (Olivia), Falconer shows Olivia making pancakes for her two brothers (including new addition William) before school. "This is a big help to her mother," accompanies a picture of utter chaos in the kitchen. The heroine adds her signature red accoutrements to her "really boring uniform," then heads to the classroom where it's her turn to tell about her summer ("Olivia always blossoms in front of an audience"); she holds both teacher and students (and readers) rapt as she describes her trip to the circus. "All the circus people were out sick with ear infections," says Olivia. "Luckily I knew how to do everything." Falconer outdoes himself with theatrical scenes of the diminutive leading lady teetering on top of an elephant's head, walking on stilts and, in a four-page fold-out spread, as "Queen of the Trampoline" flying off the trapeze and somersaulting in the air (the outline of her porkish figure trapped in the trampoline netting is worth the price of admission). He once again demonstrates how attuned he is to the way a child thinks when, at the very end of her share, in tiny typeface, Olivia tacks on a shred of truth, "Then one time my dad took me sailing The End." This star's numerous spectators can only hope that she will have many encores. Ages 3-7. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary) Hamming it up once again, Olivia regales her class and teacher with an account of what she did on vacation, when she went to the circus and all the performers were home with ear infections: Ò...Then I was Olivia the Lion Tamer and Olivia the Tight-rope Walker and I walked on stilts and juggled and was Olivia the Clown and rode a unicycle.Ó Etc. But after spinning her tall tale, Olivia adds a more prosaic P.S.: ÒThen one time my dad took me sailing The End.Ó This pig has panache to spare, and while this second installment isnÕt as consistently witty as Olivia, it is better focused and relies less on the arenÕt-kids-cute attitude that so annoyed us in the first book. The pink, red, and airbrushed-black color scheme is as stylish as ever, and the abbreviated text wisely lets the pictures put on the showÑmost spectacularly in a double-page gatefold extravaganza of Olivia on the trampoline and the flying trapeze. r.s. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Ages 3-6. Oh, Olivia. This time the indomitable little pig saves the circus--at least that's what she tells her classmates. Olivia's day begins on the endpapers as she brings in the cat, then moves to the title page, where she does her exercises across the bottom of a double-page spread. She "helps" her mother by making breakfast, gets dressed (red outfits everywhere, but she reluctantly puts on her school uniform), and heads off to school on her scooter. It's Olivia's turn to talk about her vacation. As she tells it, all the circus performers were out with earaches: "Luckily, I knew how to do everything." Yes, indeed: she used markers to become the tattooed lady; she tamed the lion with a growl of her own; she walked the tightrope and flew on the trapeze. Her teacher tries to bring her back to earth with a question: "Was that true?" Olivia bobs and weaves, but she stands by her story: yes, "to the best of my recollection." The little pig-girl is just as adorable, just as insouciant as she was in last year's debut. This time there's more of a story, but the charm is still in the charcoal art, kissed with dollops of red. Parents and children alike will recognize Olivia's many moods: exasperated, determined, smug, triumphant. --Ilene Cooper
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Just one year after the auspicious debut of a precocious, multitalented young piglet comes an encore performance. The circus performers are sick with ear infections, but, luckily for all, Olivia knows "how to do everything." She walks on stilts, juggles, clowns, walks the tightrope, and tames the lions. Best of all, in a spectacular double gatefold, she is Flying Olivia (trapeze artist) and Olivia, Queen of the Trampoline. The presentation of these two acts as one gracefully flowing motion from trapeze to trampoline to trapeze is a virtuoso performance graphically as well. The story of the little pig at the circus is framed within the context of a school day when it is the youngster's turn to tell about her summer vacation, and, as we know already, "Olivia always blossoms in front of an audience." The endpapers, front matter, and first pages of the story repeat motifs from the earlier book. Charcoal-and-line drawings are brilliantly accented with the piglet's flair for red clothing and accessories. When Olivia's imagination takes over at the circus, the bright-red accents change to a softer, peachy-pink hue. As in Olivia (Atheneum, 2000), the tone is witty and understated. Dialogue is minimal, but nonetheless brimming with humorous undertones. This story is more complex than the first, and, in a few instances, one wishes for smoother narrative transitions. However, Falconer has successfully sustained and built upon his delightfully original portrayal of the feisty Olivia, her vivid imagination, and her strong sense of self.-Dorian Chong, School of Library and Information Science, San Jose State University, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
She's b-a-a-c-k. The precocious star, in her trademark red, has started school, where she's required to wear a boring uniform. Lucky for Olivia she has a gift for accessorizing. Taking her turn to tell the class about her vacation is a proud moment: "Olivia always blossoms in front of an audience," the text states in a case of absurd understatement. It is at this precise page turn that Olivia starts to tell her fantasy story and the artist's palette turns from red and charcoal, to bright salmon and charcoal. The circus performers are sick and Olivia is able stand in for them all. "Luckily I knew how to do everything," she declares with typical Olivia humility. She is everything from Olivia the Clown to Olivia the Tightrope Walker, wearing an assortment of salmon-and-charcoal outfits, her mouth set in a purposeful (never fearful) line. So adroitly does Falconer charm and entertain, that it is easy to overlook the consummate skill required to completely capture personality in spare line and economical text. Sly, ironic details and superb book and page design support the effort. Two spreads open into four: simply captioned "Olivia Queen of the Trampoline," it alternates Olivia flying into the air, her shadow cast precisely onto the trampoline and Olivia as she disappears face down and then rear end down, leaving nice impressions of her very distinguishing features. A photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt hangs over her bed, an apt model for a determined young woman, unquestionably destined for greatness. Fans will not be disappointed by this uniquely new sequel. (Picture book. 3-7)
