A Guide to Being a Big Sister

Olivia the pig is a genuinely winning franchise character, and this 2014 Simon Spotlight tie-in uses her humor well: she coaches soon-to-be or newly minted big sisters on stroller duty, baby-soothing, and toy-sharing with the breezy confidence only Olivia can pull off. The included sticker sheet makes it an easy and immediately appealing gift for a child about to become a sibling. For families navigating a new arrival, that combination of humor and practical framing around a potentially anxious transition is exactly right. The appeal does depend fairly heavily on familiarity with the Nickelodeon animated series — readers new to Olivia will still find the content warm and accessible, but franchise fans will get more out of it. The text is very thin and functions more as a branded activity book than a literary picture book. For its specific purpose, though, it delivers.