Mo and Jo
Dean Haspiel & Jay Lynch
Reviewed by A. E. Jaskiewicz
Mona and Joey are a
typical
brother and sister. They are always at
each other’s throats over one thing or another.
One day, they get a visit from their Mailman, Mr. Mojoski, and
find out
that he’s actually their favorite super hero, The Mighty Mojo. When Mr. Mojoski hears them say that they are
the biggest Mighty Mojo fans around, he turns over his super suit to
them and
retires. After the fighting siblings
tear the costume apart, their mom makes two costumes out of it, each
containing
half of Mighty Mojo’s powers. When
arch-villain Saw-Jaw threatens the favorite balloon of the town parade,
it’s up
to Mo and Jo to overcome their differences and work as a team to stop
the
menace.
Mo and Jo is an exciting
story with a good message of setting aside differences and working as a
team. Mo and Jo have to stop their
bickering and work together to save the day.
After all, they wouldn’t want to embarrass their favorite super
hero of
all times right after he hands his super suit over to them.
The general theme of the
story is that siblings who are always fighting need to eventually come
together. This is something that all
siblings have to deal with at one point or another, which makes the
story easy
for kids to relate to. Plus, many kids
like the idea of being a super hero, or any kind of hero for that
matter. But, Mo and Jo help show that
sometimes, even
the greatest of heroes need help. This
provides a nice way to show kids why it is not good to be selfish. If super heroes need to share with and help
their siblings, then all kids can take a queue from them.
The characters in the book
are easy for kids to relate to, or at least the heroes are. Any kid who has a brother or sister has
likely encountered some time where they fight, especially over sharing
something. Throughout the book, it is
never stated that either sibling is right or wrong, it more focuses on
the idea
that you need to work as a team to get things accomplished. The brief appearance of the Mighty Mojo is
fun to help ultimately, if indirectly,
bring the kids together. Then,
the character of Saw-Jaw really does help bring the kids together in
the end.
The artwork in the book is in
true comic book style, and it accompanies the story rather well. It does not come off as childish, but rather
something that slightly older, possibly middle grade readers, would
like because
it does look more like a comic book.
Kids will enjoy seeing Mo and Jo showing off their super powers,
and
defeating Saw-Jaw in the end.
Mo and Jo is an action-packed
story with a nice message. Not only will
kids enjoy the comic book style in which the story is presented, but it
is also
a good way to show kids the values of teamwork and sharing.