Saturday, April 6, 2013

23. Olivia by Ian Falconer





















Bibliographic Citation:
Falconer, Ian. Olivia. New York, NY: Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000. 40 p. ISBN 978-0689829536.


Awards/Selection Lists:
Caldecott Honor, 2001
Children's Illustrated Winner, 2001
ALA Notable Children's Book, 2001


Format Examined:
Hard cover


Annotation:
Olivia is a precocious pig who knows what she likes, and what she doesn't. Olivia's abundance of energy often gets her into trouble, but her family continues to love her anyway. 


Personal Reaction:
Olivia is a four-year-old pig, who enjoys doing 4-year-old things. Her spunky attitude and love of life bring this story to life. The illustrations all appear in shades of black, white, and red, drawing attention to the most important parts of the page.While Olivia spends much of her story in trouble, the details of her day to day life, and her desire to enjoy life, make it so the reader cannot help but to pull for her, and so that children can't help but love her.


Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 4-6 years of age.


Themes/Issues:


Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge
Letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book.

Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are modeled through the text of the story, and through dialogic reading (asking children to predict what will happen next, why things happen in the story, etc.)

Phonological Awareness: 

Phonological awareness is not a direct focus of this book.

Print Awareness:

The text of the story is printed in a small, simple, black font throughout the book, and is support through the illustrations. 

Print Motivation: 

Olivia is a likable character, which encourages children to want to read this book again and again.

Vocabulary:
New words such as: "prepared" and "bask" are paired with familiar words and phrases. A phrase that appears in this book repeatedly is that Olivia "wears" her mother out. This may be a n unfamiliar phrase for younger children before listening to this story.  



Author/ Illustrator Website:
http://www.oliviathepiglet.com/

No comments:

Post a Comment