Olga da Polga is a fictional character and heroine of Michael Bond

Michael Bond

Thomas Michael Bond, OBE is an English author, most celebrated for his Paddington Bear series of books.-Life:Bond was educated at Presentation College, a Catholic school in Reading...

's The Tales of Olga da Polga (ISBN 0-19-275130-1) series. Unlike his more famous character Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He appeared on 13 October 1958 and was subsequently featured in several books, most recently in 2008, written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum....

, Olga (a guinea pig

Guinea pig

The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...

) is a teller of tall tales

Tall Tales

Tall Tales may refer to:* Tall Tales , 2004* Tall Tales , by American band The Hot Club of Cowtown* "Tall Tales" , an episode of the television series Supernatural-See also:...

 in the style of Baron Münchhausen

Baron Munchhausen

Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Freiherr von Münchhausen , usually known as Baron Münchhausen in English, was a German nobleman born in Bodenwerder and a famous recounter of tall tales....

. The rough frame work of the stories is something like this: Something fairly ordinary will happen to Olga, she will tell her animal friends a wildly exaggerated version of events, which are often revealed to be untrue by what the humans say later on.

Friends

• Karen Sawdust - Olga's owner and caretaker. As a child, she seems to understand Olga better than her parents.

• Mrs. Sawdust - Karen's mother.

• Mr. Sawdust - Karen's father. Built Olga's home.

• Noel - Karen's pet black cat. He's very sly and knowledgeable in the ways of the world, as he is free to enter and leave the house as he pleases. Although he claims to not believe most of Olga's tales, he still listens to them often.

• Graham - A tortoise. Dislikes being picked up and set down upside down. He's very slow, but often has a unique way of viewing the world.

• Fangio - A hedgehog with Argentine blood. He often stays in a box in the Sawdust's garage, and enjoys a meal of bread soaked in milk. He often goes to the Elysian Fields (a patch of waste land beyond the shubbery).

• Boris - Olga's boyfriend. He lives by the seaside, and is also the father of Olga's children. He watches too much TV, but this makes him a very good storyteller. He rivals Olga in the storytelling department.

• Fircone and Raisin - Two gerbils that Karen buys later. Although Olga is initially jealous of them, as they are kept in Karen's room and seem to be her favorites, she quickly warms up to them. They bite Noel when he tries to sneak up on them, which earns Olga's respect, as she admires them for standing up to Noel, small as they are.

• Venables - A toad who lives in pond in the Sawdust family's yard.

Olga da Polga makes a friend

In this tale, Olga meets a male guinea pig named Boris, who slyly tricks Olga into giving up her food. Olga is frustrated when she discovers this, but 'cannot stay cross with Boris for long, especially when he cuddles up to her'. At the end of the story, Boris leaves, and Olga is sad. This is in 'Olga meets her match.'