Icon: A 25th Anniversary of Ian Falconer’s OLIVIA and a Talk with Caitlyn Dlouhy and Justin Chanda

No sane person would disagree with the fact that it is beyond inappropriate to call a female reporter “piggy” in any context. You can understand, though, why I’ve had pigs in children’s literature on my mind since the president’s latest failure in basic human decency.

One pig in particular, actually.

Historically, it was male pigs who dominated the children’s literature landscape. Freddy the Pig. Wilbur. And Animal Farm wasn’t exactly for kids, but Napoleon stands strong (and were there any female identifying pigs in that book anyway?). Perhaps that is part of the reason that Olivia was as remarkable as she was when stepped onto the picture book scene. She was stylish. Irreverent. And, as my sister would be quick to point out, not a brat. She was funny too, and that was a bit of a surprise. After all, wasn’t her creator, Ian Falconer, better known for New Yorker covers at that point? Perhaps, but remember too that a lot of those covers were also very funny.

It’s so strange to think that this year Olivia turns 25. She would be old enough to rent a car now (and as you’ll soon see, Caitlyn has some very good visuals for what that would look like). They just came out with a nice anniversary edition of the book too, which is clever. And why not? After all, she was a #1 New York Times bestselling book, a winner of a Caldecott Honor!, has sold over 10 million copies, and became a TV series. To celebrate even more, Slate Magazine included Olivia in their “25 Greatest Picture Books of the Past 25 Years” list and ran an interview with the REAL Olivia, Ian Falconer’s niece who inspired the character.

Today, we cannot talk to Ian Falconer, as he died last year at the unspeakably young age of 63. Instead, I’m delighted to speak today instead with Olivia’s current editor, Caitlyn Dlouhy, and her current publisher, Justin Chanda.

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Betsy Bird: Well, first and foremost, congrats on the magnificent 25 year run of OLIVIA! Talk about a book with timeless qualities. Reading the book, you could easily believe that it was written either 50 years ago or yesterday. What do you attribute to its continuing and magnificent success? 

Justin Chandra: Sure, Olivia can trace her roots back to classic spunky, strong willed, irresistible characters such as Eloise, but she has always been one of a kind.  The understated humor. The point / counterpoint that plays between the art and the text. The blending of high and low brow comedy.  The use of classic pieces of art!  There is just nothing like it out there.  

Also, she’s a pig.

Caitlyn Dlouhy:  Thanks, Betsy, for the congrats — and Olivia doesn’t look a day over six….   Ian’s brilliance was seeing into the soul of a child — every child either IS Olivia-esque, or wants to be Olivia-esque, that sense of relating never fades, nor shall the book.  And, every parent empathizes with Olivia’s long-suffering parents, family, pets, while also secretly admiring the tour de force that is Olivia, which makes the book just as much fun for the parent to read. It hits allllll the notes.

BB: Oh yeah. I think I can honestly say that I’ve an Olivia of my own. Now I know that neither of you worked on the inception of Olivia, but I don’t think a lot of people know how her book came to be. Falconer, to the average layman, was probably better known for New Yorker covers prior to her book. What is Olivia’s origin story then?

JC: Olivia was inspired by Ian’s real-life niece and so, you can imagine who the character of Ian is inspired by.  But it was a collaboration with the visionary editor Anne Schwartz and the equally visionary art director Anne Bobco that helped coax the book to life! 

CD: Ian’s New Yorker covers were what caught the attention of  Anne Schwartz’s keen eye, who asked him into the offices to see his portfolio (interestingly, with thoughts of him illustrating someone else’s book, which he declined).  It was almost an afterthought that he showed her some sketches of this little piglet that he’d drawn for his young niece for Christmas one year, who happened to be named, yup,  Olivia.   Anne showed designer extraordinaire Ann Bobco, and they knew instantly that Olivia (piglet) wanted her own book.   Luckily, Ian already had the same thought!

BB: There have been cases where a creator’s picture book character takes on a life of her own, sometimes to the chagrin of her maker (and yes, I’m talking about Eloise). Falconer, in contrast, seemed quite good at maintaining his life away from picture books with outside interests. Can you tell us a bit about his work on set and costume design and other projects? 

JC: Ian was protective of the brand, even as it made its way to television. And with good reason, and to with great success. He brought that same level of artistic control and integrity (and I’d say perfectionism) to every project he was involved in. Whether it be book or opera set – Ian brought his whole self to the project! 

CD: Ian was rather brilliant at separating the various lives he lived — like Olivia, he was very “good at lots of things.”   He created, with David Hockney, stage design for Puccini’s “Turandot” for the San Francisco Opera; on his own, delicious costuming for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” production, to name just a few of the theatre and opera productions hat captured his imagination.  He created many many more New Yorker covers, and even did set work for David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries (and later illustrated two non-Olivia books with him).   

BB: And did either of you have any personal interactions with Ian? Do you have any particular memories of him that come to mind? 

JC:  Honestly, too many to count. I had the privilege of editing OLIVIA STAYS UP FOR CHRISTMAS, which was such a terrific experience for me fairly early on in my editorial career.  I will say as much fun as I had working with Ian on that book – the most memorable moments were had a few months before. He and I and his team got together for a very lively dinner and we shared all kinds of funny real life holiday stories.  Many of them made it into the book. (Other bits… did not!) 

CD:  I had the great good fortune to work with Ian on his last Olivia book, Olivia the Spy; brainstorming particulars on how Olivia, as spy, might decipher the overheard conversation between her mother and aunt was both tremendous fun, and harrowing. Opinions (Ian’s) were not held back.  “That’s a TERRIBLE idea” he would say flat out, looking incredulous, to one suggestion. “That one, yes YES!, and then she could….” would be the delighted response to another.  After a late brainstorming dinner in LA once (where I’d never been), he decided I must see all the sights, and drove me around for an hour, sharing tidbits of history of his favorite LA haunts,  never mind that it was dark and little could be seen.  To this day, LA in a shadowy secret in my mind. And we talked a LOT about sailing, an ideal distraction from pre-book-signing jitters.

BB: What kinds of celebrations are planned for Olivia’s 25th? (I know that at the age of 25 one is allowed to rent a car, but I feel that it would be unwise to put Olivia behind the wheel of much of anything, regardless of her age.)

JC:  The anniversary edition literally shimmers! It’s such a collector’s dream.  We have a substantial marketing plan in the works to make sure that booksellers, librarians, parents, teachers, and fans young and old know about this new edition… but make sure their shelves are filled with ALL of Olivia’s adventures. We’re also doing an interview with SLJ!  So all stops are being pulled out! 

CD: Ohhh, but she would want one so very much, wouldn’t she? Convertible, red scarf around her neck, probably a trail of police cars trying frantically to keep up….  Alas, she has no license, but we think she’d be nearly as pleased with the glam-up of her cover, now all in sleek festive silver.  And a sticker sheet within, all of Olivia, would equally delight.  As would ads we’re doing, and she mentioned she’s taking interviews….

BB: Then what does the future look like for OLIVIA? She’s experienced a television show and multiple books outside of the ones created by Ian. What else is she up to?

JC: Oh, Olivia is a pig who is not known for being quiet for too long.  She’s got a lot of stuff in the works… you’ll see!

CD: Would Olivia ever truly  leave center stage?  Impossible. I’ll simply say, for her, “watch this space.”

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Consider the space watched. Big thanks to Justin and Caitlyn for answering all my questions today (and raising quite a few more, honestly). Thanks too to Maryam Ahmad and the team at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for helping to put this all together. You can find the new 25th anniversary edition of Olivia on shelves now. It comes with stickers. Oooo.

Filed under: Interviews