OSCAR AND HOO FOREVER

Young Oscar and his buddy Hoo, a small, puffy cloud with faint facial features, return to share dreams and affirm their friendship in this restrained follow-up to Oscar and Hoo (2002). Still fretting from their previous meeting that he’s lost his cloud flock, Hoo begins to waste away. Oscar brings his friend back, though, first with a healthy dose of bathwater steam and then by urging Hoo to join him in a dream flight across the sky. Using changing colors to reflect the tale’s changing moods, de Wit pits the two playmates against bullies and storm clouds, in between sending them soaring through a purple dreamscape to a happy reunion with Hoo’s errant family. Though younger readers may be disappointed to discover that dreams aren’t as easily directed as the author suggests, the mutual affection so strongly expressed by these unlikely companions should make a lasting impression. (Picture book. 5-7)