Olivia Counts

Pig as a Latin instructor?  Sign us up!  Pig teaching arithmetic?  Meh, not as impressed. 

THREE PROS

*Ian Falconer's title character is nice to look at and his use of color contrast and shading is superb  

*Working in two of the more hard-to-understand common relatives (aunts and cousins) provides an opportunity to describe these terms
*Depicting the different sides of Olivia (sporty, musically-inclined, fashion-plate, etc) was a really cool way to close the loop

THREE CONS 

*If your ten items aren't going to have any noticeable connection, then you should make up some reason why they were chosen -- a lot of counting books are guilty of this, but I expect a little more from someone who's original book in the series was critically acclaimed (otherwise it feels like a pure money grab) 
*I'm not a female, but I'm still pretty sure the term "accessories" does not include articles of clothing 

*Okay, so I'm officially harping on a minor point, but the pictures of the relatives could have just as easily been generic women and kids (there's nothing that screams aunts and cousins about them)

ONE DAD'S OPINION
Olivia, Olivia, where did we go wrong?  You had a ton of potential, but just didn't deliver in the clutch.  Much like (many) an Olivia Wilde vehicle, looks can go a long way, but if the script is weak, the final product leaves something to be desired.  You can count on me when I tell you that this book is not worth your time.    

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