Olga da Polga is a fictional guinea pig, who is the heroine of a series of books for children written by Michael Bond and published between 1971 and 2002. Unlike Bond's more famous character, Paddington Bear, Olga is a teller of tall tales in the style of Baron Munchausen. The typical plot of each story is that something fairly ordinary happens to Olga, and she gives her animal friends a wildly exaggerated version of events, subsequently revealed to be untrue by what the humans say. Bond's books were memorably illustrated by Danish artist Hans Helweg, who was also well known for his "pulp fiction" covers for Pan paperbacks. His illustrations are still strongly associated with Olga, although later editions have used different imagery including artwork by Catherine Rayner for Usborne. Olga was named after the Bond family's real guinea pig: in 2014, Guardian journalist Michelle Pauli met Olga number six. In 2022, the BBC commissioned 13 episodes of a live-action TV series of Olga da Polga for CBeebies, featuring Julie Wilson Nimmo and Greg Hemphill. Television series In 2022, the BBC commissioned 13 episodes of a live-action TV series of Olga da Polga for CBeebies, featuring Julie Wilson Nimmo and Greg Hemphill. Books Chapter books 1971 The Tales of Olga da Polga 1973 Olga Meets Her Match 1976 Olga Carries On 1982 Olga Takes Charge 1987 The Complete Adventures of Olga Da Polga (omnibus) 1993 The Adventures of Olga Da Polga (omnibus) 2001 Olga Moves House 2002 Olga Follows Her Nose 2002 The Best of Olga Da Polga (omnibus) Picture books 1975 Olga Counts Her Blessings 1975 Olga Makes a Friend 1975 Olga Makes a Wish 1975 Olga Makes Her Mark 1975 Olga Takes a Bite 1975 Olga's New Home 1975 Olga's Second House 1975 Olga's Special Day 1983 The First Big Olga da Polga Book (omnibus) 1983 The Second Big Olga da Polga Book (omnibus) Characters Olga – the protagonist of the stories. 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 is 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