Olive Oh Gets Creative

by Tina Kim, Tiff Bartel (Illustrator)

Overview

When Olive Oh's third-grade teacher announces that the whole school will be having an art show, Olive is thrilled. Being creative is what she does best. Plus, she has just found her lucky red beret. Olive is sure she'll have all kinds of great ideas. But as the week goes on and Olive sees all the amazing projects her classmates create, she starts having doubts. What if her friends are better artists than she is? Or worse, what if she's all out of creative ideas?

Olive Oh is going to be a famous artist when she grows up. Right now, she's in third grade, using her creative thinking to find solutions to all kinds of problems. Her ideas often lead to unexpected adventures for her family and friends. But as any good artist knows, messiness is often part of the process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631635687
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	09/01/2021
Series:	Olive Oh
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

Tina Kim spent her childhood dreaming of becoming an artist one day. Somehow she ended up writing about artists instead-and she loves every minute of it. When she is not writing, Tina likes to eat lots of mac and cheese and watch travel documentaries with her dog, Henry. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
Tiff Bartel is a multimedia artist, creating work in illustration, design, film, and music. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with her husband and baby, and their cat and dog.

Editorial Reviews

"Olive carries this chapter-book series opener with plenty of spunk and heart."—Kirkus Reviews

"A charmingly entertaining story with a positive underlying message about friendship and competition." —Midwest Book Review

"A sweet story of family, friendship, and daring to dream. Kim’s story of a dedicated artist is sure to ring true with children with similar aspirations." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

09/01/2021

Gr 2–4—Olive Sun-Hee Oh, an energetic Korean American third grader at Lakeview Elementary in Los Angeles, loves art and her family. When her teacher Mrs. Bramble announces an art show, Olive's whole class is excited. Olive is confident in her talent and offers to help her best friend Marcus. As she sees other students' ideas, however, she becomes riddled with uncertainty about her own project and ability. Despite her grandmother Halmoni's attempts to ease her fears, Olive becomes more nervous as time passes. But her older siblings work with her to help her overcome her artist's block. The themes of family and following your dream can be a little heavy-handed at times; however, references to sibling tiffs and reconciliations will surely resonate. Likable Olive is well written, as is Halmoni. Readers are sure to enjoy glimpses of South Korean customs, vocabulary, and food. Bartel's illustrations add dimension to the plot, and discussion questions are available on back pages. Youngsters who enjoy Monica Brown's "Lola Levine" and Zanib Mian's "Planet Omar" series will like this title, too. VERDICT A sweet story of family, friendship, and daring to dream. Kim's story of a dedicated artist is sure to ring true with children with similar aspirations.—Elena Schuck, Mattacheese M.S., Marstons Mills, MA

School Library Journal

2021-06-16
This young artist is in desperate need of inspiration.

Olive Oh is the youngest in her family. She is bubbly and a bit messy, and she overflows with creativity, which she believes comes from her lucky red beret made by her grandmother. Her days are eventful as she brainstorms innovative strategies to share with her older brother, sister, mother, and grandmother. (Her father passed away when she was a baby.) When her teacher announces a schoolwide art show, Olive is excited at her chance to prove she’s a real artist. However, her lack of ideas, even with the help of her red beret, for the theme “Portraits” grows concerning, especially when her supposedly nonartistic best friend, Marcus Wong, comes up with one before her. As the rest of her peers move forward with their own submissions, Olive starts to question her inspirations and artistic abilities. Eventually some introspection helps her find clarity. Illustrator Bartel provides bold black-and-white cartoons with pops of color that are interspersed throughout the text. Kim touches on themes of identity and family—hers is Korean American, while Marcus’ is Chinese American—while writing characters with plenty of spark and embedding cultural terms within her evenly paced narrative. Readers will be amused as those around Olive are unwittingly drawn into her well-meaning messes. Sequel Olive Oh Saves Saturday publishes simultaneously.

Olive carries this chapter-book series opener with plenty of spunk and heart. (discussion questions) (Fiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews