Customer Reviews

Olivia Counts

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book for my almost three year old daughter because she loves the two Olivia storybooks so much. The pictures in this book are for the most part taken exactly from the previous story book Olivia. The only two original pictures are Olivia's four aunts and eight cousins. Unfortunately my daughter does not have aunts or cousins so she is not really familiar with these terms. The other numbers are more easily recognizable items such as five books and six teeth. I love Olivia, I really do, and I wanted to love this book. The way Ian Falconer interjects culture such as art, ballet, and opera into his full length story of a pig and her family is really great. I just get the feeling from this book that Mr. Falconer wanted to make some more money from his Olivia franchise without really having to create anything new. One thing I have to say for the Olivia counting book is it's really sturdy. This book would stand up to to the roughest toddler. If you have an older child who is somewhat more gentle check out Chuck Murphy's One to Ten for an interactive and eye popping counting book.

It appears from comments here that author/illustrator Ian Falconer re-used some images from previous board books. While these may "only" be board books, this is not common practice, and, if true, does not seem fair to either parent or child. While small toddlers may or may not remember prior use of pictures, older ones may, and beginning readers are even more like to recognize them. Moreover, board books are often bought as a set; a giver will not be happy to learn that a set of Falconer books includes repeated images.

That report (from other reviewers) aside, Falconer's book features the black and white shaded piglet, Olivia. With her softly shaded contours, and crooked smile, Olivia strikes a winning pose in front of one to ten objects in this counting book. She proudly displays two red bows, hides in a paper bag mask with six sharp teeth, and shows us her four aunts (all looking like older Olivia's), seven accessories (e.g., a cap. A bow tie), eight cousins, and finally 10 portraits of herself-skipping rope, wearing flippers, listening to headphones, and standing on her head. Numbers corresponding to the objects are written in a crayon style on each page.

Of the four counting books I read recently, this rates near the bottom. Objects and Olivia herself are static looking, and some of the objects are fairly small (e.g., a stack of five books held horizontally) , and the enumeration is sometimes confusing (objects appear on both one- and two-page spreads). There's no story or theme that ties them together, other than the somehow appealing Olivia. One other positive is the sturdy book construction, I imagine that's the reason for the proliferation of Olivia books, but I recommend instead Sandra Boynton's funny and very clever counting book "Hippos Go Berserk," which is available from Amazon.com. Recommended only for fans of Olivia.

For those of you to expect the board books to be totally original. Come on... These are great introduction books to the Olivia series for baby and Toddlers who can not handle the other books. I highly recommend both of the board books for baby and Toddlers. The red, white and black coloring is perfect. The concepts are great for toddlers learning language. If your child is older they may not appreciate the board books and find the other 2 books more stimulating.

Olivia's back with her very own little counting board book, and those who love Ian Falconer's irrepressible piglet will be happy to count along with her from one to ten. This is a very straightforward counting book. There's no real text, entertaining rhymes, or engaging descriptions. Just the simple format of 1 one ball, 2 two bows, 3 three pots of paint and so on. The joy of the book are Mr Falconer's expressive Olivia illustrations, rendered in black and white with his signature splashes of red for highlighting. This is enough for toddlers just learning to count and recognize their numbers, but preschoolers over three will be bored.

Yes the pictures are taken out of his 1st two books, but my 2 year old does not know or care. They say children learn through repetition anyway, and my little girl has absolutely learned a lot. It is just the cutest way to learn how to count...my favorite is "7 accessories" followed by "10 Olivia's." TOO CUTE!!! I am sure any 2 year old would love this book & the opposites book just as much as my liitle girl.

We were looking forward to more adventures with Olivia. What we got was illustrations stolen from the original Olivia book and no new content whatsoever. Shame on this author for using the wonderful reputation of his first two books to make a fast buck off of Olivia's fans.

The book arrived very quickly in plenty of time before my daughter started the new term. Apparently this is a very hard book to find since most students in the class haven't gotten it yet.

We got this and the original Olivia book at my daughers first birthday party and I must say they started the Olivia obsession! My daughters book case is now lined with Olivia books. She is now almost 3 and still prefers Olivia books to all others. Great purchase for the little ones!

Ian Falconer does it again with another fab Olivia book!! Short and sweet, my 8 month old LOVES to read Olivia books and these board books are great- they're durable, short on words (for that oh-so-short attention span), and have super illustrations!

My daughter, who is 30 years old, collects this children's book collection and I hope to eventually have all of them. This is one more in her collection, which I plan to give to her for Christmas. It came in great condition and I'm excited - always enjoy these books.