The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invention_of_Hugo_Cabret

Bibliograpy:

Selznik, Brian. 2007. THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780439813785

Summary:

What do you get when have a main character secretly living in a train station with a secret to preserve?  A fabulous adventure awaiting you!  In the year 1931 an orphan, Hugo Cabret, lives in the Paris train station keeping the clocks working properly.  In his room he has stashed a mysterious mechanical object that is linked to his deceased father and the old man that runs the toy booth in the train station.  This object leads Hugo and a girl named, Isabelle, on a movielike adventure to discovering the meanings of mechanics, magic, cinema, and life. 

Critical Analysis:

Brian Selznik has created a wonderfully mysterious plot line in The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  Little by little you are given glimpses to the unfolding mystery while questioning and guessing the next turn of events.  Even though Selznik’s casts of characters are fictional in this story, George Melies was in fact a real man who created movies in the early part of the twentieth century.

The story begins with the feeling of a silent film with black pages and white script as the world gradually grows closer, then proceeding into an intimate view of a boy’s world of Paris.  Selznik’s use of black and white illustrations to tell the story of Hugo Cabret is appealing to readers of upper elementary grades and beyond  because of the uniqueness of the pictures lending themselves to the propulsion of the plot.  This book also possesses the attractiveness to kids for the reason that they don’t have to necessarily read such a “thick book” since a considerable portion of the story is illustrated!

In addition, the symbolism of the Greek mythological character, Prometheus, is important in the lives of Hugo Cabret and George Melies.  Prometheus stole fire from the Gods because he wanted to help the people he had created from mud by giving them light, but he was punished for his actions, and later finally released.   The parallel between the myth and our characters is shown when Hugo turned into a thief for his and the automaton’s survival.  In doing so, Hugo’s journey leads him to George Melies, thus setting Papa Georges and Hugo free from the pain of the past and allowing each to inspire others.  Prometheus’s light is also of symbolic importance to the cinematic emphasis of this story.  The cinema and George Melies gave light to the Hugo, Isabelle, and the masses by bestowing upon them new worlds and adventures through motion pictures.

Awards:

2008 Caldecott Medal
A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2007
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2007
2007 Quill Award Winner

Review Excerpts:

“Evokes wonder…like a silent film on paper.” –The New York Times

“Shatters conventions.” –School Library Journal

“Complete genius.” –The Horn Book

“A standout achievement.” –Publishers Weekly

Connections:

-Read other books that Brian Selznik has written and/or illustrated:

Wonderstruck
The Hugo Movie Companion
The Runaway Dolls

Lunch Money

Marly’s Ghost
The Dulcimer Boy
Walt Whitman: Words for America
The Doll People
The Meanest Doll in the World
When Marian Sang
Wingwalker
he Boy of a Thousand Faces
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
The School Story
Barnyard Prayers
Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride
The Landry News
Riding Freedom
The Boy Who Longed For a Lift
Frindle
Our House
The Robot King
Doll Face Has a Party
The Houdini Box

-Compare and contrast his illustrated mediums and discuss how these illustrations lend themselves to the stories they accompany

-Research early cinema, motion pictures, and George Melies

-Make a retelling of this story using a resource like Movie Maker, or IMovie