Olivia by Ian Falconer

The first thing that struck me about this book was the very minimal style of the illustrations. The entire book is illustrated in a very stark black and white theme with some red color to accentuate certain items such as a toothbrush, jump rope, etc. Personally, I really enjoyed the illustrations. The characters were drawn very simplistically, but it is very effective and works well for the simple story line. The narrative itself is about a small pig named Olivia that is very energetic and wears herself and other people out (most notably her the rest of her family). Olivia is portrayed as a female character and often has accessories such as a purse, dress, etc. One thing that stood out for me in this book was the excellent use of humor. For example, there is a scene in the book where Olivia gets very good at building sand castles and proceeds to build a sand castle sky scraper. My favorite part of the book is when Olivia goes to the art museum with her mom. She observes a painting that is very similar to a Jackson Pollack, and claims she could paint the same thing in about five minutes. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am excited to read the rest of the Olivia series.