Along Came Oliver Review
Along Came Oliver: A Story About Friendship & Jealousy, written and illustrated by Kelle Lima, follows best friends Lilly and Billy on the day their teacher introduces a new child, Oliver, to their class. Lilly feels empathy for Oliver at recess and invites him to play but the fun quickly turns to jealousy when Lilly suspects Billy likes Oliver more than her.
When her kitty disappears the same day, it seems as if Lilly’s life couldn’t get any worse. (Spoiler alert!) But when Oliver helps her find her kitty, who now has a girlfriend and new kitten, Lilly realizes that trios might be even better than duos.
This book tackles several topics at once…from kindness and empathy, to jealousy and insecurity, to fear and worry, to making new friends.
I appreciated Lilly remembering how she felt before becoming friends with Billy and demonstrating kindness by inviting Oliver to play. It offers a subtle lesson to put yourself in others’ shoes and treat them how you’d like to be treated…without feeling like a lesson.
The author also did a fantastic job of tackling jealousy within friendships, such a common issue for children. It acknowledges Lilly’s feelings without reprimanding her, then uses an adorable kitten family to help her reconsider her stance.
So many children’s books explicitly write out the lesson readers should be learning rather than offering a story children can relate to and enjoy. In contrast, author Kelle Lima clearly understands what children are looking for in a picture book and manages to both entertain and teach without lecturing. Very well done!
As a special bonus, you can find the rules to Lilly and Billy’s “You and Me” game at the back of the book to play it with your own friends and family! I think this adds such a nice touch to the story, plus offers readers a positive way to play and connect with their own friends.
Overall, my eight-year-old daughter and I really enjoyed this book and agreed we would recommend it for any young child. You can find Along Came Oliver on Amazon and can follow author Kelle Lima on , Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Along Came Oliver Author Interview
Want to learn more about author Kelle Lima? I did too! She was gracious enough to field a few questions and share what’s next for her!
Deb: This book tackles such an important and common issue – jealousy within young friendships! What inspired you to write this story?
Kelle: I was inspired by my own childhood experience and the lack of resources to help children thrive when meeting those big feelings for the first time.
When I was a kid, I had a best friend (pretty much my only friend) until another girl came along. I even remember the little things that bothered me, like, for example, when we created a “club” name with our initials, and I was super annoyed because my letter (first one, haha) was apart from my best friend’s (third one).
I didn’t understand I was jealous. Then when I was finally able to label my feelings, I had no idea how to manage them, which ended up pushing both friends away.
Jealousy is a feeling that is not always addressed in childhood, but not handling it properly can open doors to many issues – from depression to loneliness. And the picture book does focus on jealousy within friendships, but the activity book of this set brings up many scenarios and tools to handle jealousy (like the arrival of a new sibling, and even jealousy of material things or skills).
Deb: One of the things that really stuck out to me about the story was that it didn’t judge Lilly for feeling jealous or insecure, just acknowledged her feelings and offered a subtle suggestion to reconsider her stance. Do you think it’s important to avoid directly reprimanding children for jealousy, anger, and other strong emotions? And if so, why?
Kelle: I’m so glad this was the impression you got from the book, that’s exactly what I want to relay to my readers! In Along Came Oliver‘s activity book, I point out that jealousy is a normal emotion, the problem is when we misbehave or hurt others because of it. Kids should always have the right to their own feelings, and our job is to help them process and handle them appropriately – not judge or scold them.
For example, grown-ups get upset when someone cuts them in traffic, or they get jealous of a colleague who got a raise. Why shouldn’t children be allowed to have their own feelings and understanding of the world too?
Deb: Do you have any suggestions for parents of children struggling to master friendship?
Kelle: Handling our own feelings is already hard; imagine having to deal with other people’s feelings as well. Friendships are a challenge to many children!
My main suggestion is to chat with your kids. An honest and open conversation can open their world.
First, help them label their feelings, then work together on managing them. Talk about possessiveness, jealousy, and healthy friendships.
Make helpful tools and resources available! And if they are still struggling, look for professional help.
Deb: Along Came Oliver also offers a companion activity book! Can you give us an idea of what we can expect to find in the activity book?
Kelle: Yes! In summary, the activity book talks about Yucky, Lilly’s Green-Eyed-Monster.
It goes through many different jealousy scenarios, and tools that Lilly uses to deal with this big hard feeling. It also offers a free resource (online or by phone call) that anyone can use to talk about their feelings and concerns.
By the way, there is an entirely free printable version of the activity book that anyone is welcome to download . I really want to help parents and educators out there.
Deb: You wrote and illustrated this book! Which were you first…an author or an illustrator?
Kelle: Oooooooooooh! I have loved drawing and telling stories since I was little. So, I’m gonna cheat and answer…. both!
Deb: I usually only ask six questions but I must bring this up – your bio mentions that your first undergrad degree was in “Fish Engineering”?! How did you end up transitioning from fish engineering to writing and illustrating children’s books?
Kelle: Oh dear, haha! While I was in my summer internship, we had to transfer some fish from one tank to another as they reached maturity. That task took absolutely forever.
So I created a “crafty tool” (two thin nets tied to a pole in the middle) that made a 2- to 3-hour job into a 3-minute one. My supervisor looked at me and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you are not in the right major.”
That’s when it hit me: I’ve been creating designs my entire life. (I’ve won national phrase contests, logo contests, designed and sold bags to make money, etc.) So, I decided to try “vestibular” again (a national admission exam to enter a public university in Brazil) and I started my undergrad all over in the “design” field.
While at it, I focused on games. I became a game designer – but also did many “storytelling and book design” classes throughout my undergrad and master…which means, this was always a part of my life.
After becoming a mom, I found out about print-on-demand services and decided to pursue my dream of publishing a book. After that there was no stopping me, haha!
Deb: What’s next for you? Do you have any upcoming projects you’re really excited about?
Kelle: Yeeees! I’m currently working with a friend on a picture book that will come out later this year. This is the first picture book I wrote that’s being illustrated by someone else! It’s about fear of the dark/monsters at bedtime.
I’m also working on my middle grade (currently available on Kindle Vella and coming out as a paperback and as a manga later this year) called Lilith Fletcher and the Fates’ Pendant.
And finally, I have a new interactive activity book coming out for the little fingers collection! Keep an eye out, subscribe to my newsletter, and get all news and resources out of the oven!
Thanks so much for joining us today, Kelle! If you’d like to check out all of Kelle’s books, you can find them on her Amazon author page. Happy reading!
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