THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET - ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF

Bibliography

Selznick, Brian. 2007. THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0439813786

Plot Summary

In the 1930’s an orphan named Hugo is living in the walls of a Paris train station where he secretly maintains 27 clocks every day. Hugo is desperately trying to fix a broken automaton figure that can write scripts, because he believes that it will produce a message from his deceased father. He resorts to stealing toys for which he uses their small parts and gears from a toy booth. He also carries a precious notebook filled with drawings in his pocket. Along the way he meets a young girl named Isabella and her godfather, the owner of the toy booth. Although Hugo is careful, he is caught and made to work off his debt. A friendship is created.

Critical Analysis

This historical drama is written in simple text which is easy to follow and fun to read.  It tells about making friends and being open with them to overcome loneliness. Through persistence and hard work one learns how to fix things, leaving the reader wondering what his purpose is. The price that had to be paid for stealing toys and getting caught.

The story is about the adventures kids have and what they learn in the end.

Selznick's book is considered a historical fiction because the old man in the story was actually a poor film maker in France, who also collected automatons, and worked in a toy store in a train station.

Selznick’s illustrations are beautifully detailed with black and white pencil sketches. The illustrations themselves tell a story right out of a 1930's film.  One must look carefully at them to be able to understand the sequence of the story.

I love this book and so did my fourth graders! I have to admit, it wasn't love at first sight. The first thing we noticed was the size, and we were not very thrilled. But, as we got into it, the illustrations made reading this book worthwhile, they draw you into the story. After reading the story, the students wanted to flip through the illustrations again, since it gives the feeling of a real film.

 Review Excerpts

- Caldecott Medal 2008

- “A true masterpiece.” -Publishers Weekly, starred review

- “Complete genius.” –The Horn Book, starred review

- “Breathtaking…shatters conventions.” –School Library Journal, starred review

- “Captivating…like a silent film on paper.” –The New York Times Book Review

Connections

Brain Selznick also wrote: 

-WONDERSTRUCK. ISBN 0545027896

-THE MARVELS. ISBN 0545448689




Similar book: 

Tan, Shaun. THE ARRIVAL. ISBN 0439895294. This is a wordless "graphic novel” with scenes that are sepia-tone color and consist of realistic characters.



Adventure books students might also be interested in: 

- Wiesner, David. FLOTSAM. ISBN 0618194576

- Pearson, Ridley. THE KINGDOM KEEPERS. ISBN 0786854448