Hay Piggies! It's Children's Book Day! 🐹 🧡 💛 ❤️ 📘 📗 📕 📙 🥕

Today's a day to read to a young person, read to your piggy, or even yourself (with piggy on lap), just don't let them nibble those pages!

Here's a classic introduction to a classic cavy character ...

"There was a kind of charm about her, something in the set of her whiskers, an extra devil-may-care twirl to the rosettes in her brown and white fur, and a gleam in her eyes, which set her apart. Even her name had an air of romance. How she had come by it was something of a mystery, and Olga herself told so many fanciful tales about moonlit nights, castles in the air, and fields awash with oats and beautiful princesses ..."

~ Olga da Polga, 1971

If you're a person like myself who collects vintage and modern guinea pig literature (and who doesn't? 🤪), today we revisit one of the most prominent guinea pig literary characters, Olga da Polga, the wonderfully dramatic heroine piggy created by Michael Bond.

First appearing in 1971, Olga is no ordinary cavy—she is a storyteller of the highest (and most suspicious) order. Having moved from a pet shop into a bustling household, she quickly establishes herself as the queen of tall tales, regaling fellow pets with stories of daring escapes, exotic encounters, and heroic feats… all of which may—or may not—be just slightly exaggerated.

Bond, best known for Paddington Bear, clearly understood the secret inner life of small animals. Inspired by his own guinea pig, he gave Olga a voice that is bold, opinionated, and irresistibly funny.

The original illustrations by Hans Helweg helped bring Olga’s outsized personality to life. But more recently, other illustrators have tackled Olga, and Catherine Rayner's illustrations have made Olga beautifully fluffy!