Brian Selznick, author and illustrator
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press; First Edition edition (January 30, 2007)
winner: 2008 Caldecott Medal
4/5 stars

Needing pieces, and having no money with which to purchase them, he steals small clockwork figures from a toy stall in the station. When he is caught by the toymaker, his world takes a drastic turn, filling Hugo's life with mystery and adventure.
Selznick's novel is the first (and so far, only) novel to win a Caldecott award, an honor more usually given to picture books. This is because
The prose does not equal the magnificence of the illustrations, sadly. It is awkward at points, with sometimes stiff dialogue and a not-always-believable plot line. That is overshadowed by the beauty of the art, though, and by the historical elements Selznick has woven into his fiction.
While certainly not a literary masterpiece, the visual experience of The Invention of Hugo Cabret makes this a book well worth reading.

No comments:
Post a Comment