Olivia the Spy
By Regan McMahon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Adorable pig learns danger of eavesdropping in cute story.
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What's the Story?
In OLIVIA THE SPY, the little pig messes up a couple of things at home: She splatters blueberries on the kitchen wall when she makes a smoothie (after insisting, "Mommy, I KNOW how to use the blender!") and throws her red socks in the laundry and turns the family's white shirts pink (after saying, "Mommy, I KNOW how to work the washing machine!"). Then she overhears her mom on the phone telling Olivia's aunt: "Oh, I wish there was somewhere I could send her until she develops some SENSE!" Curious about where she might be sent, Olivia decides to "investigate" and starts hiding and listening when her mom's talking to her dad or on the phone. After hearing part of a sentence in which her dad mentions "an institution," Olivia's convinced she'll be sent to prison! It turns out her mom is planning to surprise her by taking her to the ballet, where Olivia has another mishap when she goes through the wrong door and ends up onstage during the dance instead of in the restroom.
Is It Any Good?
This cute and funny Olivia adventure shows the dangers both of eavesdropping and of presuming you know how to do everything. It's also a cautionary tale for parents who may complain a bit too loudly and often about their kids' behavior and mistakes: The kids are often listening, and a negative rant can make them feel worried and insecure. But all of this is treated in the lightest possible way, with adorable Olivia "blending in" (becoming a lamp under a shade, a picture in a frame, part of a zebra rug) to "spy" on her parents to see what they're saying about her.
The art shows Olivia's range of emotions and on one page pictures her alone in a tall prison building topped with barbed wire. But there's a comforting ending with Olivia in bed after the ballet, reading a Julia Child cookbook and offering to make up for spying by cooking for the family the whole next week. When her mom says, "Oh no you won't!" Olivia answers in the familiar refrain, "MOMMY, I KNOW how to COOK!"
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about eavesdropping in Olivia the Spy. What are the dangers of listening in on other people's conversations? Might you get the wrong impression sometimes?
What's fun about how Olivia is drawn? How does the author-illustrator show she's worried? How does he show she's being sneaky and trying to blend in so no one notices she's there?
Have you ever heard somebody mention you in a conversation and gotten a totally wrong idea about what they were saying? What happened?
Book Details
- Author: Ian Falconer
- Illustrator: Ian Falconer
- Genre: Picture Book
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Atheneum
- Publication date: April 4, 2017
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 4 - 6
- Number of pages: 40
- Available on: Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 13, 2017
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