OLU & GRETA

A tale of two cousins who find ways to be together despite the distance between them.

Olu lives in Lagos, Nigeria, and Greta lives in Milan, Italy. The narrator emphasizes that since they reside on different continents, they can’t get to each other by walking or skating, by parade or dancing, or several other means. While they could travel by car, boat, or plane, for now, they visit each other virtually and imagine what they might do together when they can meet in person. Ejaita created the illustrations on black paper with colored pencils and digital techniques, and because the characters’ faces and features are drawn on the unillustrated space on each page, Olu and Greta are literally black, with fine white lines that define their features. Perhaps this signals that just as the presence of the color black is ubiquitous in these visuals, Black people can and do live everywhere, countering the notion that people of African descent are monolithic. On nearly every spread, Greta and Olu engage in the same or similar activities, emphasizing that they have a close relationship despite living far apart. Some of Ejaita’s illustrations show the pencil lines, making them highly textured and almost tactile. Along with the dominant black backgrounds, Ejaita, herself of Nigerian and Italian heritage, uses a limited color palette for each spread, giving the book a retro look. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A compelling bicontinental story of kinfolk, uniquely illustrated by an artist who’s lived the experience.