Olivia Helps with Christmas (Olivia)

PreS-Gr 2.  Children who are familiar with this irrepressible pig will know what kind of help Olivia is likely to provide as her family prepares for the holiday. Her antics seem a little forced in this selection, but the dazzling illustrations, highlighted with green as well as Olivias signature red, are as charming as ever; and the endinga snowy Christmasis quite satisfying. This is a good bet for family sharing. - Virginia Walter, University of California, Los Angeles

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

More a succession of family anecdotes-in-the-making than a plot-driven story, the holiday installment of a much-loved series finds the adroitly accessorized piglet and her family decking the halls of a house in the country on Christmas Eve. Olivia, charged with a very special job (Mom-speak for interrupting the Santa watch Olivia and her younger brothers mount by the rain-streaked picture window), proudly shows off the table she has set by herself, topped with a decorated miniature tree: Why, that's beautiful, darling. Where did you ever find that perfect little] her mother beams; open the gatefold to see the rest of the room, where a saw and a stool stand next to the family's (decapitated) ]tree? as the mother falteringly completes the question. Readers will claim other episodes as their own favorites; as usual, Falconer knows how to play pictures and text off each other to maximum comic impact. Ages 3-7. (Oct.)

Copyright 2007 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.