Olympig! by Victoria Jamieson

 The Triumphant Story of an Underdog: Olympig! by Victoria Jamieson

Rating: 2.5 stars

I know, I know...the Olympics are completely over.  But they'll be back.

So, let me tell you a story about Boomer the Pig.  Boomer decides that he'll be in the Olympics, and he trains a little before his Olympic debut.  He competes in a wide variety of events--running, weight lifting, wrestling, vaulting, boxing, and hurdles, to name a few.

This pig does not know the term "specialization of labor."  Or of sports.

He stinks at all of them.  I mean, he's really bad.  And after losing horribly at each sport and having a chipper attitude, he finally loses it and throws an oinker of a tantrum.  And then he quits.

On your marks, get set, GO!

Shortly after quitting, an annoying journalist interviews his mom, expecting her to go on about her embarrassment and shame of her son.  Instead, she lauds him and says how proud she is of him for trying.

So Boomer un-quits and tries again.  One.  Last.  Event.  Gymnastics floor routine!

His comically glittery outfit and horribly spell-binding routine help him earn a spot near the bottom.  But his attitude remains positive.  "I realized something very important today!" he says.  "I realized today has been terrific practice for the Winter Olympics!"

I'm disappointed in this book about the Olympics, about which there are surprisingly few books.  The drawings are the highlight, but the story just leaves me unsatisfied.  I guess Jamieson wants kids to learn that a positive attitude is most important, and to appreciate the people (or pigs) that support you.  But I don't love how clueless Boomer is, how delusional he is about how his talents (or lack thereof) measure up against the rest of the competition.  It makes me think of all those kids out there who receive so much praise that they are shocked--shocked!--when they finally get honest (in their mind, negative) reviews.

I'm a huge fan of the Olympics, mostly because they are the hard-earned reward for individuals who work hard for many years.  This light-hearted approach to the Games rubs me the wrong way, but maybe I'm too competitive a person to appreciate a funny book about a pig who is trying really hard to be just okay.

G is for Gold Medal by Brad Herzog, illustrated by Doug Bowles

G is for Gold Medal: An Olympic Alphabet by Brad Herzog, illustrated by Doug Bowles

Rating: 5 stars (or just one gold medal)

HURRY!  If you order this book RIGHT NOW it'll arrive at your house before the Opening Ceremonies!

We ordered our copy about a week ago and the kids were super excited to look through it.  I don't really make a big deal out of a lot of things.  I drag my feet in decorating for Halloween (much to Lorelei the Decorator's chagrin).  I force myself to put something green on their plate for St Patrick's Day (last year was guacamole.  I know...mommy demerit for me).

But the Olympics!  The OLYMPICS!  THIS is a reason for all caps and exclamation marks if I've ever had one!

I was a horseback rider growing up.  Did you know that I was the (ahem) state champion of Hawaii in both English and Western in 1990?  (It helped to have only two opponents and a cute pony named Flashdance.)  Anyway, I really believed when I was little that I would ride in the Olympics.  I was dedicated and had a lot of talent--but not the money.  When I was a child of an Army officer, I didn't realize that my leased pony was worth about as much as one unshod hoof of an Olympic steed.

But you know what?  No matter.  I believed, and I dreamed.  And I wasn't too disappointed when reality caught up with me. realized that life would not include the Games.  Sports--mostly riding, but also running--helped channel my energy into healthy pursuits.

My husband and I totally get into the Games.  We watch them as much as possible, even non-TV me.  Track and field, gymnastics, and horseback riding are my favorites.  We explain to Lorelei and Ben how much the athletes have to train, how hard they have to work, how much they have to want it.  I am inspired by these athletes, and I know they'll see that and get a little inspired in their own way, too.

It's hard to find ANY book about the Olympics, and I'm glad to say that this is a really good one that explains what the Games are about.  If you're not familiar with these alphabet books by Herzog, there are two ways to read them--first, a short poem for each letter that make the book a good sit-in-my-lap-for-a-bit-and-read book; second, an additional description of that letter-inspired theme that would take about 20-30 minutes to read out loud, but would really provide a ton of information to a curious kid.  Each one is informative and insightful.  It took us one long lunch to read this book; Lorelei and Ben had a bunch of (wonderful) questions that I was excited they asked and therefore took my time answering.

But the pictures are what make this book excellent.  They are HUGE in scale; they are drawn to draw in all these little eyes that are looking at the book, and hopefully watching a bit of the Games.  The illustrations are slightly bigger than life, and I found myself looking through the book once again after bedtime.

The Olympics only come once every four years, of course, so I think it's worth making them a BIG DEAL in your house, too.  Even if you're annoyed by these ALL CAPS and exclamation points!

(I'm excited.  What can I say?!)

P.S.  One of the other few books I can find with any Olympic storyline is the wonderful Koala Lou, which is also my very first blog post.

Winners Never Quit! by Mia Hamm, illustrated by Carol Thompson

Winners Never Quit! by Mia Hamm, illustrated by Carol Thompson

Rating: 3.5 stars

Do you expect this book to be a bit cheesy?  Well, it is.  But it's still worth checking out and reading a few times.  Especially if you've got a Lorelei around who is a bit reluctant to get dirty, and more excited about reading and putting on plays.  That's important, but...I want my kids to strengthen their weaknesses, or develop skills in activities to which they aren't initially drawn.  Okay, and I do think that it's uber-important for girls to be strong and play sports...it doesn't hurt that a zillion statistics back me up on this one.

Mia still hated losing.  But she didn't hate losing
as much as she loved soccer.

Anyway, little Mia in the story plays soccer with her brothers and sisters, but gets frustrated when she doesn't score.  So she quits.  The next day when she wants to play with them again, they don't let her because "we don't want quitters on our team."  She pouts (of course) but is happy when they finally let her play.  This time, when she doesn't score, she channels her frustration well and decides that playing soccer is more important to her than winning or losing.

The pictures in the back are the best part--photos of her playing as a little girl, a teenager, and then in National Championships and the Olympics.  We're gearing up for the Olympics here in a few different ways, so any book we can get our hands on that includes any mention of the games...we're happy.

Not stellar, but good.

Koala Lou by Mem Fox

Koala Lou by Mem Fox, illustrated by Pamela Lofts

Rating: 4.5 stars

During the recent Winter Olympics we searched high and low for some children's books to explain what the games were. We came up empty-handed...and figured that the Olympics Committee had copyrighted everything to the extent that they'd be officially un-thrilled with me using the O-word in this posting! Anyway, with that search and after I read Mem Fox's book Reading Magic (I'll blog on that later; amazingly I paused to read a book for my own age group), I found Koala Lou What a gem!

Little Koala Lou is the oldest koala in the family, and after all her little brothers and sisters are born, she seeks to regain the attention and love of her mother by participating in the "Bush Olympics." Of course, her mother loved her all along and, not of course, she doesn't win the gum tree climbing event. I think that losing--well--is a great little lesson for kids. Some of my friends would disagree heartily--but who in this world wins every time? Certainly not me in Scrabble, I must report sadly. In almost all other books, the main character achieves the objective and wins the gold and reaches the top...but in this one, little Koala Lou is sad--and Lorelei definitely feels sad for her--but when her mother throws her arms around her and reaffirms her love... I admit that a) I'm a sap and b) tears came to my eyes the first time I read it. And no, I wasn't pregnant when that happened.

The book has a great sing-songy rhythm to it--my daughter loves to read the part "Koala Lou, I do love you!" which appears on half of the pages. The illustrations (thanks to Pamela Lofts) are beautiful and there's a lot to look at and discuss. It'd be a fine book to bring on a plane, for example, because there are all sorts of crazy animals from Australia and a great scene where all the animals wear fabulous hats.