Ellie & Olly Good Golly! Where's Olly by Bobbie Proskine (Book Review)

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover!

After the last book review I did for Jen Guidry's book, "The Storm" I got a request to review this children's book, "Ellie & Olly Good Golly! Where's Olly by Bobbie Proskine." 

The first thing that struck me was...the cover. 

"Is that France or Italy?" I thought.

On the cover is an illustration of a girl standing next to her stuffed animal teddy bear. The main color of the book is a bright blue, in bubble-letters surrounded by a white boarder and in white letters with a black stroke is the title and author. 

At the bottom we see the illustrator's name, "Cyndy Schatz." 

The illustrations look like a mix between colored pencil and watercolor which give them an "elementary school" type feeling. 

The first "dedication page" indicates that this book was inspired by a real stuffed-animal, "Olly." The dedication speaks to so many who take on a special stuffed animal friend and take care of it as if it was a true living being. This is the same for me an a seal I called, "Sandy." One of my very first attempts at a children's book was "Sandy the Seal" inspired by my own stuffed animal. The project was stopped when I misspelled in colored pencil, found the "white out" I used to correct the mistake looked to obviously "whited out" and then it dawned on me...

What if my book was a best-seller? I would have to hand-write and hand-illustrate tons of these...with no mistakes...no way...

This just happened last week by the way... 

Just kidding, I was in the third grade. 

Although, that is how children think, "I'm gonna have to make a million books...one by one...oh boy."

The project was discarded right then and there.

Good news is someone who knew that books could be replicated by a publisher didn't give up on their children's book. That was all "thanks" to "Sandy Maranto" and family/friend support this idea to publish the story of this stuffed bear came to life. 

From the Author:

"This book was written to inspire the imaginations of children, enhance relationships between stuffed animals and their people owners, while also providing an educational experience about travel." 

Note:

As the reader I also encountered a lesson about losing things with sentimental value...

The author didn't expect to write a book with an "added lesson" about how parents should behave over lost items. For example, once I was given a silver necklace with extreme "sentimental value." Long story short, it was deemed irreplaceable. I have always been into fashion. Especially into jewelry making around this time in my life. I would drag my family into craft stores to buy polymer clay in order to make homemade clay beads to wear. Sometimes I would find an unusual object with a hole to string a ribbon through in order to tie around my neck. These "early fashion projects" were failures only a mother could love...

I would get an occasional compliment here and there. Looking back now they were probably "pity compliments." As in, "poor child, still painting macaroni to wear after the first grade." I'd announce proudly, "I made it myself." An obvious statement since "puffy paint" would spell out my name (or something along those lines).

Then... one day...in the mail came a silver necklace with little roses encased in resin. An explanation about how a silver smith out in another country cultivates rare "little roses" and encases them in an intricate silver-resin pendant. 

I had to wear it...

I also...had to lose it...

It's just the way it is in the world of a child. Of course the items we don't want to lose or break the most end up being exactly what we lose or break somewhere. 

...and it is devastating enough.

Imagine a parent making you feel worse...so much worse. Traumatizing.

Even if the author didn't intend to write a book about "how to react as a parent towards a lost item," I extracted that little lesson from this book. 

So what is the book about?

Good Golly! Where's Olly?

The story starts with a little girl looking through her room for items she is taking on a trip. One of the items is an orange stuffed bear that she loves to take everywhere. This bear has been with the girl, "Ellie" through most of her life's big moments. 

On a first big family vacation abroad Ellie takes  her best friend and prized possession "Olly" with her to Belgium. While waiting for a train Ellie runs into a crowd of pigeons at the train station, and then it is time to board the train. 

Before boarding, a homeless woman approaches the little girl and frantically says something in French. 

Ellie's mom attempts to understand...but she is unable to speak French. The French homeless woman is unable to speak English. 

The little girl seems startled by the encounter with the frantic homeless French woman, but her mom explains that it is never good policy to "judge a book by its cover." Ellie's mom, who loves using "funny expressions," explains to her puzzled daughter, "People are't always what they seem and you should never judge a person by the way they look." 

The train to Bruges arrives and the family must board. They leave the homeless lady frantically trying to communicate something...but what? Too late, they must board the train. 

While on the train, Ellie realizes...her stuffed best friend... is gone. She must have dropped him while chasing pigeons. It is also too late to turn around and get the bear. They need to return home. Olly, the stuffed bear, is apparently lost forever in another country...

The lost stuffed friend has Ellie's mom unable to sleep that night. She recalls the lady who tried to speak French frantically to them during their stop at the train station. What was she trying to say? 

Even Ellie does not feel the same without her bear friend. The tea parties are no fun, no one to cuddle with during story-time...

The great news is that Ellie receives her stuffed bear back in the end...from the most unlikely places...can you guess? 

Review:

This is a good heartwarming story to give hope to a child and parent over the loss of a favorite toy. The ending of this story will inspire faith in humanity and the good in people. If you would like to find out how this lost bear finds its way back home, here is a link to buy this book:

CLICK HERE TO BUY BOOK 

For those who don't know,  I am starting a magazine in Texas that has an emphasis on Texas fashion, arts, and culture. Literature is a huge part of culture. If you are an author in Texas, I will be willing to review your book for a "Texan Authors" issue.  Please submit your work to the email below:

I wrote this review, ironically, after "losing" a purse during New York Fashion Week. Fashion shows can get pretty chaotic "behind the scenes." Models are normally walking for multiple shows. This means changing in and out of outfits very quickly. Items get lost. One designer's "butterfly wings" ended up on my rack because my designs were mostly butterfly-based. I can see how an unknowing person could assume they were mine. I assumed the organization decided to lend them to my show...

I was met with a frustrated other designer who was "looking everywhere" for them. 

On the other hand, possibly the same thing happened to the purse in the photo...who knows...

It "went missing" just as I was passing out butterflies to the models to place into their hair. Before the show I was sent an email of the official hairstyle. It looked close enough to caterpillars running down the back of heads. This was perfect...I handmade more than 200 butterflies. Some ended up in the front row gift bags. A good portion of them were inside the purse above that was supposed to be my "finale." I decided to wear red and black (totally different from the rest of the materials and outfits already inside the show). I wanted to "pull out" my own books from this bag. One is a children's book as well. The entire butterfly and mirror theme is based off the stories I wrote. 

I could not find my bag last second to save my life.

I sent people "on my team" to go looking out for the bag. This caused me to be alone fitting models backstage and doing last second adjustments.

I could feel my heart sink deep down to the pit of my stomach as time flew by. 

Where was this lost bag on this very important day? 

"It is supposed to be the ‘cherry on top,’ It is supposed to make everything come together..." I kept dwelling on the loss and it was hard to concentrate. As a result I walked out as the designer with the "backstage pass" wrapped around my wrist and flats instead of heels. 

I barely made it out! 

At the very last second, without my purse, without the "extra butterflies" in the hair of the models, I convinced myself to smile. After all, I did it...it wasn't my "perfect show" because I would have wanted these extras...

Although, looking back, maybe it would have been "overkill?" Maybe I would have dropped the books I attempted to take out of my bag while walking? 

Maybe it would have been "different and brilliant?" 

It doesn't matter though, I still got an invitation to do Paris Fashion Week...and it is an exclusive invite for a show to contain 10 selected designers. One of them...me. 

I don't know how I'm going to manage it...

…but I'll give it all I got! 

The way to "support me" towards my next step? Consider purchasing a purse with my original design:

CLICK TO BUY PURSE HERE:

Congrats! Jen Guidry!

Following up on the last book review, Jen recently had her "book signing" at Barnes & Noble for the book this blog reviewed, "The Storm." If you are an author and would like a book review just reach out. I may take a while to get a review (because I do this in between activities I am doing). I am an avid reader and writer. It is always "fun" to explore and share the work of other authors.