Book Review: THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET

Book Review, Genre 1: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick

Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Illustrator: Brian Selznick

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-439-81378-5

Plot summary: Set in 1931, orphan Hugo Cabret tends to the clocks of a Parisian train station while attempting to repair a mysterious automaton. Caught thieving, Hugo must pay off his debt to the station’s toy store owner. While working in the shop, Hugo discovers new friendships, learns to trust, and uncovers clues to the origin of the automaton. Once the automaton is repaired Part One ends and Part Two of the story continues with a new mystery: the discovery of the connection between the toy store owner, the automaton creator, and a long-forgotten movie pioneer. Winner of the 2008 Caldecott Award, The Invention of Hugo Cabret plays out like an original silent black and white film. Sit back with some popcorn and candy to enjoy this new classic!

Critical analysis: Author and illustrator Brian Selznick brings a book to life by turning his words and pencil art into a silent black and white film of the 1930s in The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Don’t let the thickness of this picture book scare you; it is an easy read that packs a big punch. Sometimes there are pages of text to read and there are times, like in a silent film, the reader must view the pictures to determine what is happening to move the story along. The book does not fit into the standard picture book format we are used to seeing in a Caldecott Award Book; however, once the cover is cracked, you feel like you just sat down in a cool, dark theater just as the main feature film is about to start. The book includes a bibliography at the end to continue the conversation – complete with a note from the author about the real Georges Melies.

Review excerpt:

Jennifer Mattson (Booklist, Jan. 1, 2007 (Vol. 103, No. 9)) 

Selznick's "novel in words and pictures," an intriguing mystery set in 1930s Paris about an orphan, a salvaged clockwork invention, and a celebrated filmmaker, resuscitates an anemic genre-the illustrated novel-and takes it to a whole new level. The result is somewhat similar to a graphic novel, but experiencing its mix of silvery pencil drawings and narrative interludes is ultimately more akin to watching a silent film. Indeed, movies and the wonder they inspire, "like seeing dreams in the middle of the day," are central to the story, and Selznick expresses an obvious passion for cinema in ways both visual (successive pictures, set against black frames as if projected on a darkened screen, mimic slow zooms and dramatic cuts) and thematic (the convoluted plot involves director Georges M li s, particularly his fanciful 1902 masterpiece, A Trip to the Moon.) This hybrid creation, which also includes movie stills and archival photographs, is surprising and often lovely, but the orphan's story is overshadowed by the book's artistic and historical concerns (the heady extent of which are revealed in concluding notes about Selznick's inspirations, from the Lumi re brothers to Fran ois Truffaut). Nonetheless, bookmaking this ambitious demands and deserves attention-which it will surely receive from children attracted by a novel in which a complex narrative is equally advanced by things both read and seen. Category: Books for Middle Readers--Fiction. 2007, Scholastic, $22.99.
(PUBLISHER: Scholastic Press (New York:), PUBLISHED: c2007.)

Notable awards:

Randolph Caldecott Medal, 2008 Winner United States
New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Yearr, 2007 Winner United States

Connections: Readers can continue to learn more about the author/illustrator, the book, the movie, and the real Georges Melies at www.theinventionofhugocabret.com. There are many interactive links, including details about the Oscar-winning movie based on the book (Brian Selznick even wrote the companion book to the movie!), and more information about the Caldecott Award. The site is very user-friendly and mimics the artwork and lettering found in the book.

Bibliography

Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (New York: Scholastic Press, 2007).

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. September 4, 2016.

Jennifer Mattson, “Booklist Review.” Booklist, January 1, 2007.

“The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.” The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Accessed September 04, 2016. http://wwwtheinventionofhugocabret.com/index.htm.