by William Joyce

Laura Geringer Books, October, 2002.
Picture Book, 40 pages.
ISBN: 0060088109
Ages 2-8

Olie's Mom and Dad have left on a trip, but they tell Olie he is too little to go. This does not sit well at all with Olie. "I'm not the right size for anything!" he shouts. But Olie finds a shrink-and-grow-a-lator, a device than can make his little body larger or smaller. Of course, Olie wants to be bigger and he turns on the machine by pressing the button. Unfortunately, Olie presses the wrong button and he shrinks himself. Suddenly, the world is very dangerous and he has to avoid his sister Zowie who thinks he is a little dolly. Fortunately, his dog spot rescues him. Olie tries the machine again and manages to super-size himself. He goes off to have fun as his new greatly expanded self. The gigantic Rolie leaps into outer space and gets ice cream at the ice cream planet. But the good times quickly come to an end when Olie bumps his head on the Moon and scalds his bottom on the hot Sun. Sad Olie crash lands on Mount Big Ball where he cries and cries for his family. He is tired of being shrunken Olie or enlarged Olie. He only wants to be a regular-sized Polie. Luckily, his family shows up and they use the device to return Olie back to his regular size. Olie is so happy to be back to normal and with his family that he sings a song about it. "I was a sorry, sad Olie. I've been a mad and bad Polie. I won't be in such a hurry to grow all Rolie up!"

The latest Rolie book is absolutely charming and is full of delightful, colorful drawings from William Joyce. Joyce draws the characters' heads very large so children can easily tell whether Olie is sad, worried or happy, and share in his moods. Joyce even draws curious little faces on other objects: a bowl, a swing set, a house and planets. Like the others in the series, this new Rolie adventure teaches an important message in a fun and exciting way. Children will stay happily entertained with Joyce's fun story and large, amusing drawings.

Big Time Olie is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the December-January, 2003 of The Internet Writing Journal.

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