Olive and the Embarrassing Gift

Olive discovers the true price of friendship.

Olive’s best friend, Joe, has bought her a special hat. The only problem is that it’s hideously, cringe-inducingly embarrassing! Their whole gang of friends is giggling about it. She tries all kinds of excuses to avoid wearing the hat, then all kinds of ways to get rid of it, until Joe catches her stuffing it into the trash. He’s totally heartbroken. How can Olive make it up to him? Shoving the hat back on her head, she’s off to create something even more embarrassing — a huge best-friends sign to wear proudly.Freeman tackles a highly relatable quandary—who among us has not known the horror of unwanted knitwear?—while using sly humor and knowing dialogue to keep the story emotionally true yet free of pedagogy.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Lots of white space, vibrant colors, and spot-on facial expressions enhance the story. Good for starting class discussion on teasing and friendship, this is a must-have where the earlier books are popular.
—School Library Journal

Freeman depicts his diverse animal cast against white backgrounds, allowing their facial expressions to speak volumes.
—Kirkus Reviews

The mixed-media art, set against white backgrounds, highlights the comedy of Olive’s embarrassment and gives human touches to each animal. Olive, at book’s end, doubles down, adding a sandwich board proclaiming her friendship with Joe to her knit hat. Take that, haters!
—Booklist OnlineTor Freeman grew up in London and graduated from Kingston University with a BA in illustration. She has been working as an illustrator ever since and was awarded a Sendak Fellowship in 2012. She lives in London.