Momo was written by Michael Ende in the early 70's. The church tried to forbid that book, because they thought the story was too similar to the Jesus-Story. Well I think times have changed. Today people like to read it due to its nice background and due to the story behind the story. The film Momo was made in the 80's. The only actor, who is quite popular is Armin Mueller-Stahl (Leader of the grey men), who did some films in Hollywood as well.
BIOGRAPHY

"The great cities of long ago lie in ruins, together with their temples and palaces. Wind and rain, heat and cold have worn away and eaten into the stonework. Ruins are all that remain of the ampitheathers, too. Crickets now inhabit their crumbling walls, singing a monotonous song that sounds like the earth breathing in its sleep. A few of these ancient cities have survived to the present day, however. Life there has changed, of course. People ride around in cars and buses, have telephones and electric lights. But here and there among the modern buildings one can still find a column or two, an archway, a stretch of wall, or even an ampitheater dating from olden times. It was in a city of this kind that the story of Momo took place."
p 4, Englishtranslation, 1985, Doubleday & Company, Inc.

"That was the last Momo ever saw of Cassiopeia, because the tempest of flowers rose to an indescribable pitch. And as it gained strength, so Momo was lifted off her feet and borne away like a flower herself, along the dark passages, out into the open air, and high above the city. Soaring over the roofs in a cloud of flowers that grew bigger every moment, she was wafted up and down and around and around like someone performing a triumphal dance to glorious music. Then the cloud of flowers drifted slowly, lazily down and landed like snowflakes on the frozen face of the earth. And, like snowflakes, they returned to their true home in the hearts of mankind."
p 223, English translation, 1985, Doubleday & Company, Inc.

Book Reviews
"Ende's story is a poignant, appealing tale. We do need more people [like Momo] who are able to give others the gift of time and less who have no time to give...The book fits neatly into the crack between fantasy and mainstream allegory and satire. We can claim it for our own...but so can everyone else. And that may be one key to its success."
- Tom Easton, "Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact," October 1985, p 180

"...offers dreamy, intricate, fantasy worlds in the grand children's literature mode...however, [it] connects with the grimmer facts of modern life in a way that conventional children's classics usually don't." - Amity Shlaes, "The Wall Street Journal," February 28, 1985, p 26

"...there is real ingenuity to its imaginative force...and the conveption and shapes of its fantasy devices are charmingly fresh. Is it a children's book? Not here in America."
- Natalie Babbit, "The Washington Post," March 17, 1985, Book World, p 8