Oscar and Hoo Forever

There is an unmistakably European flavour to the Oscar and Hoo books, a pleasingly off the wall narrative by French author ‘Theo’ made visual by Dutch animator and illustrator, Dudok de Wit. The small boy with his permanent friend and confident, Hoo will strike a chord with all those children who find themselves ‘on the outside’, and living with their heads in the clouds. There is little in the way of story line and yet the artist’s bold line work and carefully contrasted warm and cool watercolour washes take us effortlessly to an ‘other world’ where clouds speak and boys fly. Through this bande dessinée idiom we follow Hoo’s journey over mountains, villages, forests and seas to find his very own flock of clouds who show Oscar how to chase away the storm clouds. With this much charm you can get away with anything!