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Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. (2007). New York: Scholastic Press. 978-0-439-81378-5.
Brian Selznick unlocks the imagination of youth with his novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Young Hugo is orphaned and left to live with his uncle, the caretaker of the clocks in a train station in Paris. One day his uncle leaves for work to never return, and Hugo finds himself alone. Desperate not to be discovered he continues to reside in the train station and take care of the clocks. Meanwhile, his uncle’s paychecks begin to pile up on the table, as his disappearance goes unnoticed.
Hugo became accustomed to stealing for his basic means of survival; however, when he is caught stealing from the toymaker in an effort to restore the automaton his father left behind, he finds himself at risk of being exposed. With the help of Isabelle, the toymakers goddaughter, he succeeds in assembling the pieces of the broken automaton. Isabelle wears a suspicious, heart shaped key around her neck that is an exact fit to the automaton. Once they wind the automation, it reveals a drawing from a famous early film, signed by Georges Melies. After investigating, they learn that the toymaker is Georges Melies.
Selznick uses his novel to expose and esteem the life of Georges Melies. The reader learns who Melies was, and how he influenced the early film industry. This fictional story is intertwined with history creating an imaginative story that exposes readers to pieces of history that they may not realize exist otherwise. The novel provides several original images from Melieses’ films, bringing his films to life.
Selznick provides a complex plotline that brings several components together in the end. His story telling technique captures the attention of the reader, but the biggest contributing factor is the 284 pages of original drawing that Selznick created to enhance his story. The Invention a Hugo Cabret is a 526-page book that has 284 drawings embedded into its content. He uses these images, as well as his writing to tell the complete story of Hugo Cabret. A reader is not able to look exclusively at the pictures, or solely read the words. Both elements in this novel are crucial to comprehending the plot accurately.
The images are used individually to intensify different sections of the text. For example, when the museum where Hugo’s father worked burned down with his father inside, Selznick provided an image of the fire, or when Isabelle discovered a hidden armoire in her godparent’s closet, an image was revealed to help the reader visualize the scene.
However, most of the images are used in a sequence to tell a section of the plot. For example, when Hugo was running from the Station Police towards the end of the book, the images spanned several pages providing a visual understanding of the chase. The pictures are also used to travel farther and farther within one another. For example, the book is introduced by showing an image of the whole city, followed by an image of a particular building. The next image focuses in on a specific doorway of the building, with subsequent pictures taking the reader through the doorway, up the stairs, across the train tracks, down a hallway, to a vent in the wall, into the vent, to a clock revealing an eye that is watching out over the city.
This sequence of pictures set up the exposition of the story. The reader is aware through the images that there are two initial characters, a boy and a toymaker. The images reveal that the story takes place in a large city, and that the boy is hiding behind the clock in the train station. The entire background of this novel is revealed through pictures before we read Selznick’s first words on page 46 of his book.
The pages of this book are printed on bright white pages that are edged with black trim. The drawings throughout the book are all pencil drawings done in black and white (with the exception of the black and white photos from the films by Georges Melies). Each drawing provides intricate details that allow the reader to understand their intended meaning and relevance to the story.
This well-written and illustrated novel would be a great addition to any classroom in upper elementary or middle school. A proficient reader will find this highly exciting novel a quick read, and a more reluctant reader will feel a great sense of accomplishment after completing this lengthy book.
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