Olivia Counts

This is the story of Olivia, a precocious pig–not unlike a typical high-energy, over-the-top kid who likes the beach, tortures her brother, paints on the walls and hates naps. While she wears everyone out with her antics, one can’t help but love her.

Olivia knows all about opposites. Sometimes this porcine heroine is “plain,” attired only in red briefs. Other times she is “fancy,” with high-heeled dress-up shoes, lipstick, pearls, and a big red bow. Sometimes —- when Olivia is running the circus, for example – she is very “loud” with a lion, which renders the lion rather “quiet.” This sturdy little board book, with lots of white space and black-and-white illustrations, splashed with occasional red, is a perfect introduction to the concepts of opposites, from “up” and “down” to the “open” and “closed” mouth of our yawning, pajama’d pig at the conclusion.