Children's Book Review - Olive And Ginger

Olive And Ginger
by Xenia Mesot, Vladislav Khristenko (Illustrator), Mariia Khristenko (Illustrator)

Ginger the Cat befriends Olive the Toad. Together they form a unique friendship as they try to get to the bottom of a mysterious event that challenges Ginger. These gentle and thoughtful tales about friendship, differences, and communication will delight children from the age of 5 to 105. And maybe even a cat or two…

I really enjoyed this book in a way that no other children’s book has done in a long time. I find too many books rely heavily on the illustrations to carry the book. This book is the opposite. The story and the writing is front and center. Don’t get me wrong, the illustrations are amazing in this book. But it is the well written story that really kept my attention. I even liked the way the book was laid out with the illustrations being around the outside of the words, so that you’d know the illustrations were just there to help tell the story. I found it very interesting just listening to the conversations that the frog and cat had with each other. Listening to their inner thoughts and how they each came to conclusions about how the other might feel. I thought it was a nice subtle way in the beginning to write a short story about how they can be different just like people can be different. The 2nd short story was humorous for my son. He liked how they both thought the other was terrible at singing and then when they sang together, the other resident animals nicknamed the pond “Haunted Pond.” The third story in the book, I just found it very interesting to read along with their thinking process about why they think the owner wants to shampoo the cat. Overall, I think this is a fantastic book. It is a little wordier than some children’s books but hopefully your kids can handle it. 

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