A to Z Challenge Day 15: O .  

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 4 Stars

Ollie Tuloolah Tubithah Dethoolah Ardellis Devadisl is one very lucky girl.  Her wondrous name comes from not one relative.  No, Ollie (for short, just today), is named after SIX aunts.  This story is about what is like to be Ollie for one day. What does a little girl with such an astonishing name do all day?  Let me tell you a little about what she loves.

Ollie loves to get up early and dress herself.  She is always a fashion statement by the time she goes downstairs to help make breakfast.  Ollie’s fashion sense leans towards couture by afternoon, when she plays dress-up.  Purple polka dot socks and White South Sea Pearls are lovely this time of year, don’t you agree?  Ollie loves to do more than those girly things.

Ollie is also a deep thinker.  Lying in the green, lush grass, Ollie loves to daydream.  I wonder if she looks at the fluffy-white clouds and finds animals.  I do, don’t you?  Ollie loves to do so many things during the day, it is hard to describe them all.  I do know she is an avid reader, often found under her covers, with a flashlight, reading the latest children’s bestseller.

Ollie Tuloolah Tubithah Dethoolah Ardellis Devadis  has colorful, cute pictures of a little girl from no more than the mid-calf down.  We do not know what she looks like, though it is easy to imagine from the things she does each day.  To me, she has an Orphan Annie look, with red curly hair, big green eyes, and a photogenic, keepsake smile. Ollie can look like whatever the reader wants, though one thing is a constant, Ollie loves her orange tennis shoes.

Little girls will love this book and will easily identify with Ollie.  Ollie’s name will twist some tongues, just like supercalifragalisticexpealidocious did when I was younger, but they will have fun learning Ollie’s full name, and saying it aloud, just as much as we loved learning how to say that big, word two sentences up, that I had trouble spelling.

This children’s book is the illustrator, Toby Hanna’s first book.  He has painted a marvelous picture of an energetic little girl who is stubborn and opinionated.  Now, that is simply my take on the little girl, after reading about her active day, and seeing it from her mid-calf to the soles of her feet.  This sounds like a strange way to illustrate a book, yet, could this little girl be any little girl?   Yes, she could.   The main feature is Ollie’s feet, often the object with the most to express.

Ollie’s feet say so much.  Her favorite orange tennis shoes point inward when she drops an egg onto the floor, as if to say “oops.”  Facing straight ahead, perfectly parallel while jumping rope and not tripping up once, tells us this little girl is confident and strong.  During  her evening bath, Ollie gets her big  toe  jammed  into the faucet, proving she is mischievous.  Under the covers, with a flashlight, reading, tells us Ollie is stubborn and strong-willed, until her bare feet, the soles facing heaven, show us she is finally asleep, looking like a little angel.

This is what the author said about the story’s origins.

“My grandmother grew up in the upper Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee and would tell us about a girl who was named after each of her aunts.  As a child, my cousins and I loved to be able to say her name.  I taught the name to my daughters when they were young on a long car trip.  The little one thought it would be cute in a book and here we are.”

Ollie Tuloolah Tubithah Dethoolah Ardellis Devadis is the kind of book young girls will love to read.  It is a great make-believe book.  Girls can play along with Ollie as she goes through her day.  I do not think boys will take to this book at all, but that is okay.  This one is for the girls.  Ollie Tuloolah Tubithah Dethoolah Ardellis Devadis is a slice-of-little-girl-life, that let’s us peek in on Ollie’s day.

I invite you to comment. Please scroll to the top of this review, look left and click on “comment.”  

Ollie Tuloolah Tubithah Dethoollah Ardellis Devadis

Author:  Patti Robinson  website  
Illustrator:  Toby Hanna
Publisher: Brentwood Publishing Group  website
Release Date: 2011
ISBN:  978-1-59581-645-0
Number of Pages: 24
Ages: 2 to 7

A to Z Challenge Day 15: O
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