MEMO AND THE UNEXPECTED GIFT

A story about an unusual family and an unusual friendship.

Memo and his grandmother live alone “in a tiny cottage” with few other buildings visible in the distance. Memo is a cheerful, red-sweatered child, and his grandmother, round with white hair in an updo, is similarly chipper but slowing down in her old age; both are light-skinned. Memo is occasionally lonely given that he never seems to interact with anyone besides his easily tired and nearsighted grandma, but when a tiny orange kitten shows up one rainy night, Memo’s loneliness disappears. Unfortunately, the kitten turns out to be a lion (kidnapped by smugglers), and Memo knows that the only choice he has is to find a set of wings that enable the lion to fly home—one of his grandfather’s old inventions—and say goodbye to his sole nongeriatric companion. Luckily, the lion becomes…an optometrist? And mails Memo a pair of glasses, which allow his grandmother to see better and somehow solve some of the other problems that made Memo feel lonely. Accompanied by quirky artwork, a mix of vignettes and full-page spreads, this Turkish import relies on silliness rather than any semblance of sense; it will make some kids laugh and others ask “Why?” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Surrealism for the very young.