cover image Teatro Olivia

Teatro Olivia

Ian Falconer. Rizzoli International Publications, $24.95 (10pp) ISBN 978-0-689-87816-9

The feisty porker literally takes the stage in Teatro Olivia. Fans first spy her peeking out of the curtain on the sturdy cardboard cover, which opens to reveal an elegant 3-D stage that lowers like a drawbridge to accommodate enough scenery to present three plays: Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and Turandot. Falconer, with his background as a set designer, transports the audience to 14th-century Verona and Peking, China (""long long ago"") with ease, and leaves no detail untapped: a Playbill (with a cover scene aficionados will recognize from the heroine's debut, Olivia) gives a synopsis, a ""Who's who"" and offers additional activities. Various Olivia figurines in appropriate costumes (marked according to the play in which they are to be used) and the scenery tuck neatly away into a drawer in the Teatro box (like a costume trunk). Youngsters will indulge in many encore performances with this clever package. .