Dad: Today we are taking a look at "Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String" by Bob Boyle.
Isaac (age 11): Okay -- there is one thing we cannot say. We cannot tell anyone what the extremely awesome, super cool, awesomeness surprise is at the end of the string.
Gracie (age 9): It's funny.
Isaac: It's so awesome at the end.
Dad: When you saw this book, did you immediately know who made the pictures?
Lily (age 7): YES.
Gracie: (singing) Wow Wow Wubbzy, Wubbzy Wubbzy, Wow Wow!
Isaac: Bob Boyle made all the characters up for the show "Wow Wow Wubbzy."
Dad: How would you describe his style? You can tell immediately that Hugo and Wubbzy come from the same guy.
Isaac: It's the exact same style.
Gracie: (singing) Go Go Hugo, Hugo Hugo, Woo Woo.
Dad: But how would you describe that style?
Gracie: He barely makes any circles. There are always square faces.
Isaac: But there is not one sharp edge. All the squares are ovally. It is all round and swerved. There are no sharp corners.
Gracie: And he has wiggly lines. He draws wiggly.
Lily: He draws cartoony. It looks like video games.
Isaac: It really looks like a computer game, or a book that teaches you how to get through the levels of a video game.
Dad: So, tell us what the story is about...
Isaac: There is this guy named Hugo who looks like a purple... hippo. Or is it a cow?
Gracie: We especially like hippos when they are purple.
Isaac: Hugo finds this mysterious, awesome, cool string. So he follows this string thinking there is treasure or something amazing at the end. He is following, and following, and he meets lots of people like an alligator policeman.
Lily: And he meets a noodle person.
Isaac: The noodle man who gives all the otters noodles.
Gracie: No. Bunnies. He gives the bunnies noodles.
Isaac: Otters must get french fries.
Gracie: He stirs his noodles with an oar.
Dad: Because the pot is so big...
Isaac: He must be the famous bunny noodle man.
Gracie: Hugo also meets a fish snake.
Isaac: It's a snake that looks like a sea serpent.
Gracie: She looks like a fish.
Isaac: She does. It's actually just her hair-do that makes her head look like a fish.
Gracie: She would be a fish if you cut off her body.
Isaac: There's a whole bunch of different people that Hugo meets.
Gracie: Why is that mole taking a bath underground? In the dirt?
Isaac: That is a good question.
Dad: Regardless of what he finds at the end of the string, what does he meet along the way?
Lily: Friends.
Gracie: And a fish.
Dad: It's a snake.
Isaac: Who is your favorite character?
Lily: I like the Noodle Bunny.
Isaac: I like the Mr. Alligator Police Officer Dude Man.
Lily: I also like the Fish Girl.
Dad: It's a snake.
Gracie: I like the surprise at the end.
Dad: Did you have any guesses of what was going to be at the end?
Lily: At first I thought it would be a ribbon that says "Hugo" and a heart.
Dad: You mean like a present for him?
Isaac: I just thought it was going to be a ball of yarn.
Gracie: I thought it was going to be this really big thing. But actually we were all so surprised. And it was so funny.
Isaac: Everyone reading this review will be really curious about what the surprise is and will go get the book.
Gracie: Red strings and purple hippos. Even just that would make me excited to read it.
some really long string, by Gracie
this blue string leads to a piñata! by Isaac
Hugo tangled in his really long shoelaces, by LilyAuthor/Illustrator: Bob Boyle
Published, 2010: Random House
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