Olu & Greta by Diana Ejaita (review)

Olu and Greta are cousins that live very far away—while Olu resides in Lagos, Nigeria, Greta lives in Milan, Italy: “They have never met each other in person! How could they?” Olu and Greta both walk, skate, and pretend to be in marching bands; they dress as astronauts and pretend to fly with their own pairs of wings. The two communicate via video chat and send each other boxes of toys, “and dream . . . of adventures in another place.” The lesson of the commonality of childhood experience resonates in this picture book, with Olu’s adventures in Nigeria juxtaposed against Greta’s in Italy, and though the settings on each page are different, the similarities in their play styles are overtly apparent. Ejaita’s digital art uses a limited color palette of pinks, blues, and yellows, making a striking contrast to the darker shades of the backgrounds and the characters’ skin. Viewers will get a visual treat and a reminder that they’re not alone across cultures.