What's Up, Mumu?

Mumu is a little big lipped creature with rabbit ears and a blue skirt and she (?) has a bit of a mood on. You can tell that because here she is pictured at intervals from 8.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. with her arms folded in exactly the same prim, withdrawn stance with only the occasional sniff or cough to break the silence. However, here comes Lox, a two-legged, elephant like creature, wearing sun glasses and a jacket and he (?) thinks he knows how to cheer Mumu up. So here we go. Shopping: ‘They won’t have my size.’ A film: ‘I’ve probably seen it.’ Oysters and French fries: ‘I had a late breakfast.’ And so on, through a trip to the country; hide and seek; a roller-coaster; salted peanuts; a rose garden, bicycling in the rain, and a visit to a skyscraper. All to no avail. And now Lox is well and truly cheesed off. Cue for Mumu to cheer him up. The book is full of laconic humour in text and pictures and somehow David Mackintosh’s graphic exuberance, and his winningly bizarre protagonists and their world, suggests both New York and a kind of 1950s French chic – a touch of Breakfast at Tiffany’s perhaps. It’s excellent entertainment for anyone who has been in a mood and anyone who has ever tried to jolly someone out of one.