Amanda Pig and Her Best Friend Lollipop (Oliver and Amanda)

My three-year-old son has enjoyed all of the Oliver and Amanda Pig books, and so have I. Oliver and Amanda live in an idealized all-American family, with parents in traditional roles. However, the stories describe realistic aspects of relationships which can be identified by most children and adults - the frustration of a mother over her naughty kids, the battles between siblings, the closeness as well as boundary between friends. Not all conflicts get resolved by Father's words of wisdom or by a tearful embrace. OK, some of them do. But some conflicts just continue and are an important part of growing up. Even though my son mostly enjoys stereotypically "boy" books (Thomas the Train, No David, etc.), he loves even this particular Oliver and Amanda book, which focuses on Amanda and her girlfriend Lollipop. He laughed, read and re-read the part where Oliver kept annoying Amanda and Lollipop, for example by sitting on their dolls ("You squashed our babies!"). My son also found it extremely funny that Lollipop's baby sister kept babbling non-sense whenever Amanda tried to teach her real words. I especially appreciated the last story, in which Amanda goes for a sleep-over at Lollipop's house, finds her best friend comfortably asleep in minutes while her eyes stayed wide open to stare at the unfamiliar (thus frightening) surroundings. She ended up calling Father to pick her up. Their conversation on the way back was terse, yet Amanda's comfort and relief are tangible. After all the previous stories in this book illustrated the importance of friendship, the last story wrapped up to remind us of the necessity of family.

Little Amanda the pig invites her best friend Lollipop to her house for the first time in Van Leeuwen's fond depiction of the toddler scene. High on the cute-ometer, the stories draw on familiar 2-4 year old play and social situations including playing with dolls, being initially shy at a friend's house, swinging, eating treats, dealing with a boisterous boy, and teaching a baby to talk, all culminating in a sleepover at Lollipop's. Parents may feel a tinge of recognition at the interrupted sleepover, as Amanda calls home late at night after imagining a monster! Most toddlers will identify with these little pigs, and parents and other readers will probably enjoy sharing the four related short chapters with small fry. The book nicely shows the value of friendship. These two piglets really like each other and are exposed to new things through playing together. Although, there's nothing groundbreaking or especially inventive about the book, but it's a pleasant enough story with small soothing pictures. A Dial "Easy-to-Read Book", rated at grade level 1.8, "Amanda" is 48 pages long with a picture on each page. A good book for the beginning reader!

Kindergartner Amanda and her new shy freind are featured in these four stories. Lolipop will only whisper at first while visiting Amanda- but overcomes this shyness in a humorous way. The freinds have fun visiting each others houses and comparing a little sister to a big brother among other things. This book is a favorite at our house.