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Olivia | |
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![]() Olivia the pig, as seen on the cover of the first book. | |
First appearance | Olivia (2000) |
Created by | Ian Falconer |
Voiced by | Emily Gray & Jo Wyatt |
In-universe information | |
Species | Pig |
Gender | Female |
Olivia is a fictional pig character in a series of children's picture books written and illustrated by Ian Falconer, the first entry of which was published in 2000. An American-British-Irish computer animated television series of the same name inspired by the character premiered in 2009.
The Olivia book series was inspired by Ian Falconer's niece, Olivia. "I was just entranced by her," he stated. "I wanted to make a little present for her, so I started working on the Olivia book." [1]
The series is different from many children's picture books because of its stark minimalism. Inspired by the style of Dr. Seuss, Falconer chose to draw uncluttered images in black and white with the occasional splash of red, along with the insertion of real artwork by famous artists — Degas and Pollock, for example. Each book in the series explores the use of another signature color in addition to the original black, white and red images.
Olivia books have been translated into many languages including Czech, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Hebrew and Latin.
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name.
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The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are considered the most prestigious American children's book awards. Beside the Caldecott Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to runners-up they deem worthy, called the Caldecott Honor or Caldecott Honor Books.
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