Olivia . . . and the Missing Toy [Hardcover]

Ian Falconer (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Olivia has one toy that she loves more than anything. She feeds him, dresses him and takes him everywhere. So when he disappears, Olivia is furious! She looks under the rug, under the sofa, and under the cat. She shouts at Ian and baby William, she cries, and she stomps, all to no avail. Then, one dark and stormy night, Olivia hears a noise. Clutching a candelabra, she creeps bravely into her bedroom, and sees a huge menacing shadow on the wall. Who is this monster, and what's that hanging from his jaws? All is resolved peacefully in this entertaining story starring our favorite pig and her favorite toy.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Olivia is back, the indomitable individualist now coaxing her mother to make her a new soccer uniform in red, not the "really unattractive green" of the rest of the team. During the sewing session, Olivia's stuffed animal disappears and the fearless piglet must solve the mystery. She eventually tracks it down, but it is now in pieces, courtesy of the dog. Olivia's tears are surprisingly easily diverted by her father's glib promise from behind the newspaper to replace it with "the very best toy in the whole world," but the independent protagonist resews it herself and even improves on the original. Once again, the illustrations are stylish and witty, now extended by the addition of green to Falconer's trademark charcoal-and-gouache black, white, and red palette. The inclusion of photographic reproductions (the sphinx in a dream and Martha Graham on the bedroom wall) adds a nice contrast, and the endpapers show a comic strip of the little pig trying to get her toy to sit up. The changes in the size of the typeface to indicate volume of speech as Olivia interrogates her little brothers, and as her distress escalates, are hilarious. But the plot meanders a little, and it seems as though Falconer is letting style overtake story. Olivia is in danger of starting to appear more like a bratty bully than the charming nonconformist we know and love. Still, her many fans will enjoy this latest adventure of the piglet turned detective.
Jane Barrer, Washington Square Village Creative Steps, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 42 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (October 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689852916
• ISBN-13: 978-0689852916
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Pigs

More About the Author

Ian Falconer is the author and illustrator of all the titles in the bestselling Olivia series: Olivia, Olivia Saves the Circus,Olivia...and the Missing Toy, and Olivia Forms a Band. His illustrations have also graced many covers of the New Yorker. In addition, he has designed sets and costumes for the New York City Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, and the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), among others. Mr. Falconer lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Falconer's foible, September 17, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olivia . . . and the Missing Toy (Hardcover)

I was a big defender of Olivia when she first came out. Though she's been criticized as being yet another New York based picture book character that only the trendiest of parents enjoy, I really loved both "Olivia" and its sequel "Olivia Saves the Circus". Both books show an imaginative gutsy heroine with just the right combination of verve and oomph. Unfortunately, it appears that success has gone to Olivia's piggy little head. In her third offering, "Olivia...and the Missing Toy", she's gone from whimsically precocious to spoiled, demanding, and greedy. This is not the Olivia I grew to love. This is not the Olivia I want to read about.

In "The Missing Toy", Olivia is not happy. Her soccer uniform comes, "in a really unattractive green". Never mind that the particular shade of the uniform is the same green that appears throughout the story in toys, books, and sofas. She insists that her mother make her, by hand, a new red soccer uniform so that she'll stand out. Ignoring the question of, "what kind of mother makes a new soccer uniform for her child just because the kid wants it?", her mom does but instead of a thank you Olivia demands to know the current location of her favorite toy. It was near her very recently and now it has left. After interrogating all available brothers and searching the house, Olivia discovers the furry culprit with a very chewed up toy. She wails a little in the presence of her parents and her father promises her a new toy the next day. Hugging him Olivia proclaims that, "I love you more than anyone" (to the frowning still unthanked disapproval of her mother). You might expect that at this point Olivia would then turn to her mother and thank her for making her such a nice new uniform. Maybe she'd be apologetic for failing to do so earlier and ask, very politely this time, if her mother would sew up her toy. Not so much. One of the last shots we have of Olivia is her carrying four large books for bed demanding, "Only books about cats tonight, Mommy".

It looks as if Falconer has attempted to make his little heroine charmingly individual in her tastes and styles. Instead, it's comes off as a story about a spoiled kid who gets what she wants (even when it's a bad idea) and wins in the end. The illustrations are, as always, beautiful. It's the story that needs work. A LOT of work. It's all well and good to want to be unique. But if you're on a team, particularly a sport-like team, you should learn how to help others and work with them. Olivia doesn't seem particularly interested in anyone but herself and getting what she wants (like new toys from her somewhat absent but free with the cash father). That's the moral of the story as I read it, anyway.

Having defended "Olivia" to a vast number of people, it's seems a pity that this third book should disappoint me like this. If Falconer is planning on any additional Olivia-like outings in the future, he should probably avoid making his heroine so self-absorbed. I'm a fan of what Olivia is capable of. I am not a fan of what she has become.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Olivia, another winner - even if too deep for some, October 18, 2003

By 

Andrius Uzkalnis (Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olivia . . . and the Missing Toy (Hardcover)

Olivia stories are written and drawn with all the stops pulled - Ian Falconer is now successful enough not to worry about agreed standards of children's writing and not to make allowances for those who fancy the predictable.

The plot line and the dialogue have the raw vitality that may surprise - and even, as we see from reviews, disappoint - some who expect a book to be more straight-forwardly didactic.

Yes, Olivia seems not to appreciate mum's effort in making her a new shirt and rewards dad instead by saying she loves him most - because he promises a trip to Piglet's World or whatever the name of the purveyors of piggy toys may be. YES, this is not a commendable behaviour - yet you know you've done that yourself. I know I have - not proud of it, but it's part of my childhood.

"But isn't the book supposed to tell a child it's wrong?", you may ask. Well, it could, but it does not necessarily have to. The child has parents who can I am sure confidently rely on their own judgment and discuss it with the child if and then they see it appropriate. I am delighted the political correctness and resulting blandness does not affect every book and some writers are confident enough in us readers to perhaps allow us to have some independent input.

This Olivia book is drawn as beautifully as any in the series. The bits where Olivia looks for the toy around the house with a candle-stick in her hand betrays Falconer's theatrical background in a delightfully tongue-in-cheek manner.

When I bought the first Olivia book I thought to myself; "I want to get every book by Ian Falconer". Several Olivias later, I still feel the same way.

37 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Questionable Tale, October 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Olivia . . . and the Missing Toy (Hardcover)

I'm a huge fan of Olivia and was thrilled to browse through this book and then pick up a copy for my nephew. It wasn't until I read it to my husband that I realized what a terrible story this is.

This is a story about a selfish little girl who doesn't take the time to acknowledge her mother's handmade soccer shirt, yet proclaims her father to be the best person in the world when he gives her the promise of the purchase of the best toy ever.

I love Olivia and parts of this book were so, well, Olivia! But I just don't feel the book presents the kind of message I would want my nephew...or my own children...to hear and think is okay.

I returned the book very sad indeed.