MORE COWBELLl! Olivia, Star of the Show created by Ian Falconer; text by Tina Gollo

"HERE'S THE BIG NEWS," SAID MRS. HOGGENMULLER.

"ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A TALENT SHOW!

HAVE FUN! MAKE A BIG BANG!"

The class is all a-twitter. Friend Francine looks worried, but this time Olivia knows exactly what she's going to do. She's going to do an amazing drum solo on her new drum kit. After all, Mrs. Hoggenmuller told them to make a Big Bang!

Olivia's big bang is too much for Dad and baby brother William. "TOO LOUD!!!" announces her older brother, but Dad assures her that her practice sounds great.

On the day of the talent show Olivia is stoked! She stores her drums backstage as Francine straps on her roller skates and begins to demonstrate her routine. But when Francine tries out her grand finale spin, she crashes right into Olivia's drum kit. Everything is pretty well wrecked, except the drumsticks, and Olivia's plan to make a big bang seemed to be ended. But as she tosses several broken drum parts into the trash can, she notices that they make a pretty big bang themselves. Suddenly Olivia sees the way to become a smash hit at the talent show, as she lines four trash cans up and takes her seat behind the curtains.

"INTRODUCE ME!" SHE CALLS TO MRS HOGGENMULLER.

Of course, Olivia's impromptu percussion ensemble is a smash hit, in Tina Gollo's adaptation of Olivia's hit TV show episode based on Ian Falconer's effervescent character, Star of the Show (Olivia TV Tie-in) (Simon Spotlight, 2014). And Olivia's prize is perfectly fitting for any percussionist, the Golden Cowbell! Gollo's narrative is easily accessible to young readers and Shane Johnson's illustrations fit Falconer's Olivia to a T for talented, in this pig tale about making a big bang while the show goes on.