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177th out of 4982 books
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21964 voters
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Caldecott Honor artist Brian Selznick's lavishly illustrated debut novel is a cinematic tour de force not to be missed!ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in...more
Hardcover, 544 pages
Published
March 1st 2007
by Scholastic Inc.
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DUE TO INTERNET ADVICE/ABUSE FROM A COMPLETE STRANGER, THIS REVIEW NOW CONFORMS TO GRAMMATICAL STANDARDS AND ALL THAT JAZZ, BUT IS STILL, AT THE END OF THE DAY, A BRIEF REVIEW OF A CHILDREN'S BOOK WITH. OH, BUT I STILL WON'T CAPITALIZE LETTERS. EXCEPT HERE. BECAUSE HERE, I AM SHOUTING TO BE HEARD IN EVERY TROLL CAVE IN THE LAND. RECOGNIZE.
this book represents a series of firsts: the first book i have ever borrowed from work. and the first book i read for my summer class on "chi...more
this book represents a series of firsts: the first book i have ever borrowed from work. and the first book i read for my summer class on "chi...more
There is something awesome feeling about getting through 400 pages of a book on an hour lunch break, and still have time to use the bathroom and punch in three minutes early. So what if the book has lots of illustrations and it's written for children, it's still a real sense of Herculean reading, even if it's not that impressive.
I liked this book a lot. I considered giving it five stars. I don't read children or young adult novels so I don't have much to compare it to. The book...more
I liked this book a lot. I considered giving it five stars. I don't read children or young adult novels so I don't have much to compare it to. The book...more
Emily May
rated it
3.5
I admit that for a while I thought this book might be one of those children's picture books whose ratings reflect the artwork and not the story. And yeah, the artwork is pretty nifty:
But as the story began to unfold and became entwined with historical events, I gradually turned my attention from the drawings to Hugo Cabret and co. The book is set in Paris in the 1930s and Hugo is an orphan who only manages to survive each day by clinging to the hope that he will ...more
I admit that for a while I thought this book might be one of those children's picture books whose ratings reflect the artwork and not the story. And yeah, the artwork is pretty nifty:
But as the story began to unfold and became entwined with historical events, I gradually turned my attention from the drawings to Hugo Cabret and co. The book is set in Paris in the 1930s and Hugo is an orphan who only manages to survive each day by clinging to the hope that he will ...more
As I was a little more that 2/3 through The Invention of Hugo Cabret when I started wondering how many stars that I would give it. At first, I was even considering giving it 3 stars, which suprised me since so many people had told me that it was amazing. I have, since settled on giving it 4 starts, because I can't really sum up my first reaction to the work as "It was amazing!" which corresponds to 5 stars. However, now that I have said that, the following criticisms that I have for...more
I read the entire book in a few hours this afternoon; despite being about 500 pages it only has about 26,000 words and much of the page space is taken up with interesting formatting as well as sketches that help fill in some scenes of action and emotion to move the plot forward. It's a very interesting and ingenious idea for a book, one I quite appreciated. I almost always focused on the words more than the pictures in storybooks as a child, and I suppose that remains the case here, though it w...more
If there were a rating for sheer coolness factor, this book would score off the charts, but do I approve of coolness for coolness's sake? Apparently in this case, I do. Hugo Cabret is orphaned, broke, and living a secret life behind the walls of a train station as he tries to piece together the story of a mysterious invention that his late father discovered and became obsessed with before his death. Along the way he runs afoul of the law and a crochety old man with a mysterious past who may be a...more
Lisa Vegan
rated it
Recommends it for:
all boys, all girls, all adults & young adults who enjoy movies, children’s literature &/or art
I’m in love with this book. It is special, very special. Unique. I see that said about so many books, and sometimes the comments are hyperbole and sometimes they are accurate. I’ve truly never seen another book such as this, and I immensely admire it.
I am so grateful (yet again) to the Children's Books group as it’s the April selection for the Fiction Book Club there, and so it finally stopped languishing on my to-read shelf and my on-deck shelf and got read.
the drawings are...more
I am so grateful (yet again) to the Children's Books group as it’s the April selection for the Fiction Book Club there, and so it finally stopped languishing on my to-read shelf and my on-deck shelf and got read.
the drawings are...more
This odd book is less a novel and more a 500+ page short story, with full page illustrations that make up half the book. These illustrations supposedly tell part of the narrative, but the majority of the information is told in the text, turning what could have been an interesting hybrid of text/illustrated story/graphic novel into a bastard combination that doesn't quite work.
The story is quite simple and not very enjoyable. Perhaps because I haven't read "young adult" bo...more
The story is quite simple and not very enjoyable. Perhaps because I haven't read "young adult" bo...more
I absolutely loved this book! Set in Paris in 1931, the story is about a 12-year-old orphan boy who unlocks the secret of a mysterious mechanical man. The real appeal of this book lies in it's unique format. At 500+ pages, it consists of 284 pages of pencil-drawings (reproductions obviously) and is a very interesting combination of a mystery novel plus graphic novel plus film(!) In fact, reading it totally reminded me of some French New Wave films I saw back in college. I loved the grainy textur...more
Ronyell
rated it
Words cannot describe how much I loved this book! “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” is one of the first chapter books to win a Caldecott Medal and is cleverly written and illustrated by Brian Selznick and it is about how an orphaned boy named Hugo finds out the secrets contained in his most prized possession…a mechanical man from his dead father. “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” is clearly one of the most exciting and amazing books ever created for children!
Brian Selznick has created a ...more
Brian Selznick has created a ...more
In Brian Selznick’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the first 45 pages of chapter one are illustrations. The story is set in Paris, France in the early morning at the train station, with commuters hurrying about. You can tell it is sometime in the early 1900’s because of the clothing people are wearing. The atmosphere is one of secrecy and suspense as the illustrations show a young boy scurrying through the station, looking behind, trying to get to where he needs to be without being noticed. ...more
I just finished reading Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. This is the first time I have read it to completion, although last year I read about 70 pages on my first attempt and put it down for a long while and then picked it up again, only to put it down again. I can understand and appreciate why the book won the Caldecott Award, but I do not particularly enjoy the book myself that much, mostly because of the lack of character development and character voice-things the Caldecott Award has nothing...more
This was a very unique book and I really enjoyed it! It did take me a few chapters to get completely absorbed, but after that I was thoroughly interested in the plot and how everything would be resolved.
The book is unique in multiple ways, but two stand out for me. The first of which, is that it’s probably one of the least predictable books I’ve read lately. You can guess how the overall ending will probably turn out, but the specifics and the “how” were (at least to me) pretty unpredic...more
The book is unique in multiple ways, but two stand out for me. The first of which, is that it’s probably one of the least predictable books I’ve read lately. You can guess how the overall ending will probably turn out, but the specifics and the “how” were (at least to me) pretty unpredic...more
For being over 500 pages, this was about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour read, because there is a balance between words, and also full-paged pictures.
You can't talk about the book without talking about the author, who is in the movie business, and the way the pictures in the book told the story directly relates to a way a movie (especially a silent movie) tells a story. The pictures and the words worked together to create a unique and highly effective way to tell a story.
Hugo Cabret is an o...more
You can't talk about the book without talking about the author, who is in the movie business, and the way the pictures in the book told the story directly relates to a way a movie (especially a silent movie) tells a story. The pictures and the words worked together to create a unique and highly effective way to tell a story.
Hugo Cabret is an o...more
Can I give it SIX stars?? I really really love this book! It's like watching a silent movie, in book form. It's a mysterious, heartwarming tale about an orphan boy who hides in a Paris train station, keeping the clocks running, hoping to one day uncover the secret of the little mechanical man left him by his father. It's the story of magic: the magic of clockworks, the magic of magic tricks, and the magic of the movies. It's about finding secrets, about rediscovering your past and reinventing yo...more
Astonishingly packaged and put together, this story of the late life of pioneer filmmaker Georges Melies is told through text and pictures. But while everyone else has raved about it, I found the writing itself a bit flat and lacking in interesting plot complication. The Washington Post summed up my take beautifully in their review, part of which reads: "The problem is that Selznick...is really not much of a writer....[M]ost of the time, the prose has a one-foot-in-front-of the-other qualit...more
Absolutely fascinating mix of pictures and text, telling an intriguing story that is mysterious and moving! There are numerous twists to the tale, and I was surprised several times. It was a book that kept me guessing.
All the characters are well-drawn and interesting, and besides being a most engaging story, it also paints a vivid picture of life in 30s France. So many different themes and threads are woven into it that it would be easy to give something away, and half the fun is bei...more
All the characters are well-drawn and interesting, and besides being a most engaging story, it also paints a vivid picture of life in 30s France. So many different themes and threads are woven into it that it would be easy to give something away, and half the fun is bei...more
A surprisingly short read for a 500+ page book, Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret is an experiment in medium: not quite graphic novel or picture book, long sequences are wordlessly illustrated in between short spans of text. The (pencil?) illustrations of the Parisian landscape were awesome, as were the chase scenes and the details of the automation. It's really quite a daring effort, and one I appreciated.
However, impressive production and delicate illustration aside, I was sti...more
However, impressive production and delicate illustration aside, I was sti...more
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, is a story about a young orphan boy, named Hugo Cabret, who secretly lives in the walls of a Paris train station during the 1930’s. As a clockmaker’s apprentice, Hugo works part time to keep the clocks in the station working properly. The rest of his time is spent stealing food and working tirelessly to repair a mysterious automaton (mechanical man). One day a mean old man, who runs a toy booth, and a young girl discover Hugo and his notebook c...more
Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret has been racking in the awards. It was a 2007 National Book Award finalist and won the mother of all children’s awards: the 2008 Caldecott Medal.
Hugo Cabret is a young French orphan with many secrets. He lives in a Paris train station where he keeps the clocks running, but his life changes when he meets a toy seller and his goddaughter.
The book’s thickness, at over 500 pages, is initially intimidating. Physically, the tome is ...more
Hugo Cabret is a young French orphan with many secrets. He lives in a Paris train station where he keeps the clocks running, but his life changes when he meets a toy seller and his goddaughter.
The book’s thickness, at over 500 pages, is initially intimidating. Physically, the tome is ...more
Twelve-year-old Hugo Cabret lives inside the walls of Gare Montparnasse, a busy Paris train station. Trained by his uncle and guardian to keep the station clocks running, Hugo creeps stealthily through the vents and air shafts. Hugo’s very existence is a well-kept secret. Even the stationmaster doesn’t know Hugo’s uncle has been missing for three months.
Hugo lives in the small apartment at the station that he shared with his uncle. His uncle’s paychecks are piling up because Hugo doesn’t k...more
Hugo lives in the small apartment at the station that he shared with his uncle. His uncle’s paychecks are piling up because Hugo doesn’t k...more
Jeanette
rated it
This one surprised me by turning out to be about a long-ago French filmmaker and magician named Georges Melies. If you want to know how Hugo Cabret fits into the picture, so to speak, you'll just have to read the book. Kids who like mechanical things would groove on this book with all the clockworks in the Paris train station, the mechanical toys, and the tinkering Hugo likes to do. Don't be put off by the page count. Hundreds of those pages are taken up by pencil drawings.
Both of Bri...more
Both of Bri...more
Why are there not a thousand more books like this one?
Even though it looks like lead-weight doorstop, Cabret is actually a very quick read. Selznick PERFECTLY matched art with words, in form, quantity, and quality. In this book, Selznick has reminded every reader that there are amazing ways books can be used. Using only a few pages to illustrate the changing phases of the moon gave more power to the story than if he has used words on those pages, and in this day in age when "...more
Even though it looks like lead-weight doorstop, Cabret is actually a very quick read. Selznick PERFECTLY matched art with words, in form, quantity, and quality. In this book, Selznick has reminded every reader that there are amazing ways books can be used. Using only a few pages to illustrate the changing phases of the moon gave more power to the story than if he has used words on those pages, and in this day in age when "...more
This is a truly brilliant book! It just won the Caldecott Award (for illustration) but is a young adult novel. The book tells the story of a young orphan named Hugo Cabret who is living in the walls of the Paris train station at the turn of the 20th century. He becomes involved in a fascinating mystery that will truly have you riveted from the first page to the last. I read it out loud to my 6-year old son and I caught him finishing the book on his own at 10:00 p.m. the other night. He said he j...more
I enjoyed The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick because I felt I was watching a movie. This was another book I could not put down. The illustrations are amazing. The story of Hugo, an orphaned little boy, and his undercover life in a Paris railroad station is full of adventure and mystery. Selznick combines elements of a picture book, film and graphic novels along with original drawings to provide a very unique reading experience. Children in the middle grades would enjoy this book....more
Simply, this is a perfect book. It does all that it sets out to do, and that is quite a lot, and it does it with such sophistication and respect towards its characters, its story, and, most importantly, to its readers. The illustrations are integral to the story -- not adding to it, they are it, and also open up a perspective as close to film as the printed page can be. I guess I should call it a storyboard, but this read is so much more complete than that word implies. It seems to tell its stor...more
Reading with offspring before we see the movie.
Captivating and heartbreakingly beautiful. The pictures add a great deal to the story. Both my children, 9 and 6 were captivated by the drawings.
It was fun to read with my children because we talked about the clues Selznick embedded in the story to bring us to guessing what was coming next. It was a well crafted story that the whole family enjoyed.
Captivating and heartbreakingly beautiful. The pictures add a great deal to the story. Both my children, 9 and 6 were captivated by the drawings.
It was fun to read with my children because we talked about the clues Selznick embedded in the story to bring us to guessing what was coming next. It was a well crafted story that the whole family enjoyed.
Kerry
rated it
Recommends it for:
someone with an imagination or who would like a break from reality
I really enjoyed both the illustrations and the tale that unfolded within the covers of this book. It is inventive and curious. It is the kind of book that if you let yourself be swept away by it, you will enjoy the ride. I just hope the author/illustrator comes out with another book soon.
The only lingering question.....why are so many books about orphans?
The only lingering question.....why are so many books about orphans?
A wonderful book full of amazing drawings and beautiful black pages. I had to have it because of the artistry of the book. I was thrilled to discover that I enjoyed the story too. The story is about an orphan, who learns about films, automatons and magic. A lovely story with some good history about old french films thrown in.
Ordered from B & N
Ordered from B & N
My husband and I were in the theater several weeks ago, watching the previews and waiting for Puss In Boots to go on when the trailer for a movie called Hugo came on. It piqued our interest because it is a film by Martin Scorsese, one of my husband's favorite movie directors. And then, for some reason, I recalled seeing (or hearing) about a book with the name Hugo in the title, and thought maybe the movie was the adaptation of the book. Turns out I was right on that one: Hugo the movie ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Has anyone watched the movie? | 9 | 34 | 7 hours, 39 min ago | |
| Friends of Dragon...: The Invention of Hugo Cabret | 1 | 3 | Feb 07, 2012 05:31pm | |
| Met the author - AWESOME! | 7 | 19 | Jan 28, 2012 08:59am | |
| LOVED this book | 45 | 169 | Jan 23, 2012 12:28pm | |
| Did anyone see the movie? | 40 | 85 | Jan 23, 2012 06:36am | |
| hey | 15 | 57 | Dec 08, 2011 04:54pm |
Hello there. My name is Brian Selznick and I’m the author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I was born in 1966 in New Jersey. I have a sister who is a teacher, a brother who is a brain surgeon, and five nephews and one niece. I studied at The Rhode Island School of Design and after I graduated from college I worked at Eeyore’s Books for Children in New York City. I learned all about...more
More about Brian Selznick...
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“ If you lose your purpose ... it's like you're broken. ”
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95 people liked it
“I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and types of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason, too. (p378)”
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86 people liked it
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Dec 23, 2011 02:46pm
updated Dec 23, 2011 10:37pm