My Cousin Momo by OHora, Zachariah (review)

The little squirrels are all excited that their glamorous cousin Momo, a flying squirrel, is coming to stay, and they’ve been bragging him up to their friends. However, Momo turns out to be awkwardly bashful and he doesn’t play games right: when they play superheroes, he wants to be Muffin Man, and when they play Acorn-Pong, he eats the ball. The kids express their disappointment (“We should have invited Stinky George instead!”), and a sad Momo prepares to head home; fortunately the kids realize they’ve hurt his feelings and patch things up, going on to try playing their games his way. The story’s setup is more vivid than the resolution, but the situation exudes authenticity. The notion of Momo as the cool cousin upon whose social capital the little kids have been coasting (“We might have told a friend or two about Momo’s special ability,” says the main text above a crowd of kids yellowing “Fly, Momo!”) is plausible, but so is his being just a bigger kid who’s kind of shy and homesick. OHora’s familiar thick, linocut-style hatching and saturated planes of retro color have an appealing vigor; a few slyly contemporary elements (dad sports an ironic mustache and a fedora, even as he cooks) and details of the squirrels’ treehouse lives add interest. Momo’s species-appropriate huge eyes are less endearing than insect-like, but that works with the notion that his presentation is generally a little odd. Many kids have experienced the visitor whose reality differs from the fantasy, and the book could encourage youngsters to work through their disappointment to find the value in the genuine.