FROM MEMEN TO MORI

Reflective conversations between two kids offer life lessons for philosophical readers.

In three vignettes, older sibling Memen, clad in a jumper dress, offers tender and occasionally humorous advice to the smaller Mori, who sports a distinctive red cap. When Mori laments after breaking Memen’s handmade plate, Memen is quick to console the youngster: “Well, that’s okay. I can just make another one….It’s really fine! Because in the end, no matter what, every single thing breaks or goes away.” Memen models astute acceptance. “There are things we can control, and things we can’t. And we want to learn to tell the difference between them.” The second story is told from the perspective of a sangfroid, self-aware, and dirty snowman with wanderlust, but the third rings most true to the slightly morbid reference of the book’s name, memento mori, providing a humbling reflection on our smallness and what people live for. Thickly outlined spot illustrations are expressive and poignant, with simply filled in solid hues set against spacious blank expanses. Yoshitake’s minimal text, translated from Japanese and both heavier and heftier than many of the author/illustrator’s recent works, takes the occasional tone of a graduation speech while imparting some truly sage, existential wisdom. This one is likely to spark meaningful conversations among young readers and with adults. Characters have black hair and skin the white of the page.

Gentle and profoundly wise advice plays out in a dialogue between two loving siblings.