UNC Children's Literature in Elementary and Middle Schools discussion
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The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Hugo Cabret
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Reading the graphic novels were interesting compared to our other choices. I had to really focus on the pictures and not just flip by them, so I could understand the stories. I can see why it is still learning through reading these books, as kids have to have words to describe the scenes the books depict. I enjoyed Hugo Cabret, but not the other book. The pictures in Hugo Cabret were more connected to the story and there was additional text, so it made it easier.
I surprisingly enjoyed reading the graphic novels more than I would have originally expected. I'm definitely one of those people who skips by pictures in textbooks so I had to train myself to slow down and really look at each of the images in detail. The only thing I didn't enjoy about the graphic novel is the fact that it didn't allow you to imagine the story in your own mind. The images of the characters and setting were both provided for you and, for this reason, the story felt less personal. For me, visualizing allows me to become a part of the story and, for this reason, I felt detached and didn't feel as if I got as much out of the novels as usual.
I really enjoyed reading a graphic novel like Hugo Cabret -- it made the book go by so fast and I didn't feel like I needed to adjust my reading strategies. The pictures helped me to be more invested in the story, which I liked. In addition, because the story was about the magic of making movies, I felt that the illustrations were extremely fitting. It was almost like every illustration was a scene or a part of a flip book.
I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The pictures helped create a movie scene in your head that helped the story go on. It was weird to have pictures tell parts of a story then pick up with words, but I definitely enjoyed it. It didn't take that long to get through it either.
I know this was a graphic novel, but I listened to it on tap because that was all there was at the library at the time. This was my first book on tape. Even though i feel like i missed out on the graphic elements, I did like the sound effects that were present throughout the story. The sounds, along with the different voices, allowed me to follow the story better, I thought, than reading it to my self from a hardcopy. I was definitely a different experience!
I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. I thought I was going to hate it but there were enough pages with words for me to feel like I was reading a typical novel. I almost wish there were less words to challenge me more and analyze the pictures further.
Anytime that I think of graphic novel I immediately associate it with anime. I'm not really a fan of anime so I was not excited about this book. I have never been more thrilled to be so wrong! This book was perfect. I think the illustrations made the book and brought life and depth to the story that couldn't have been accomplished through words alone. I enjoyed seeing patterns within series of illustrations such as zooming in on a subject and how the first and last illustrations are similar. Everything about the illustrations were calculated and intentional, always meant to enhance the story.
I did not really enjoy reading the graphic novel! I found myself moving too quickly through the pictures just to get to the text, and I would constantly have to slow down and really absorb the artwork. The artwork in the book was beautiful but I think that children may have a hard time envisioning the story in their head without text to explain the images. I enjoyed the plot of the book though, and loved the suspenseful mystery of it all! Overall I liked Hugo Cabret but I do not think that graphic novels are for me!
While I have not read many graphic novels, this is not the first one. I feel like I kind of already understood the adjustments that you have to make when reading a graphic novel. Some graphic novels rely very heavily on the illustrations to tell the story; Hugo Cabret was not really this way. The illustrations definitely added to the story and told you some things that the text did not, but I feel that the majority of the plot came from the text. But this is not to say that I didn't enjoy Selznick's style; I found his storytelling to be brilliant and the illustrations were phenomenally well done. I just think that it would have made for an even better piece if more of the story was told through the pictures alone in order to make them feel like part of the text and not just supplementary.
Reading this novel was magical for me. I felt like I was in the story, especially through the illustrations. I felt like the book had a brilliant balance between illustration and text. The text helped me understand the plot, the illustrations made me feel a part of it. I loved it!
Generally I don't do well with books that have pictures. I tend to flip right by them and stick with the words that are written. Knowing that Hugo Cabret is a graphic novel I wanted to make sure that I payed attention to the drawings in this book. However, I didn't really have to try as much as I had expected. The pictures in the book were just so detailed and I was really drawn into them. It was easy for me to see the story in them. I feel like this really added something to the way I experienced this book. Coupling the pictures with the plot of the book it really was all magical. I don't necessarily know that I could read other graphic novels as well, but this one I really enjoyed.
I absolutely loved this story. I found that the images filling in pieces of the story was really clever and made the story more interesting to read. It also helped that the illustrations were amazingly well done. I found myself staring at several of the images just examining the intricacy of them. There was no need for words on these pages. The events unfolded as clear as if it were in a movie. I really enjoyed the different way this story was presented. I did have to change the way I read the book a little bit, but it was a positive process. It provided a chance to make the story my own. I supplied the words for the images which caused me to be more involved in the story.
I loved the book! Reading this kind of novel was a new experience for me. I had never read a book that combined elements of film, story, and graphic novel into one experience. I needed 40-50 pages to get acquainted with the format, but once I became used to it, I thought it was an engaging experience. I had to remind myself to take time and study the pictures instead of racing towards the next block of text, because the illustrations were a hugely important part of understanding the plot. I sometimes found myself briefly glancing at the pictures before eagerly flipping to the next page with text, but once I slowed down and made a concerted effort to think about and notice the pictures, I didn't have any trouble. What a neat way of reading!
This book was definitely different from anything I've ever read. It really takes a lot of time to adjust, and since I'm already an analytical slow reader I felt like this took me forever to finish. Instead of reading the text and making sure I understood the words, I felt like I had to spend additional time understanding the pictures. The book itself was pretty good, but I just felt like I struggled too much to enjoy it. However it was definitely pretty unique and I'm glad to have experienced reading a graphic novel, just not my cup of tea!
This was a new experience for me but I LOVED Hugo. I have never read a graphic novel before and when I hear about them I usually think about anime or comics. However the artwork in this novel blew me away and I was amazed by the full pages of Hugo and his adventures. I loved being able to put a face to the characters. I also enjoyed it because it was refreshing after a few pages of reading to be able to see the next part of the story in a detailed drawing. It didn't take me as long as I thought to finish the book however I realized I couldn't just flip my way through it. In order to understand the story, I had to carefully look at each picture because they progressed the plot rather than just contributing to it.
This book really appealed to me because I am a visual learner. The images were amazing so it made the story interesting to me. I loved reading this kind of book because it made me excited to go to the next page and see the next illustration. I think I moved through the book faster than I did in the other ones because I was so wrapped up in looking at the images.
I fully enjoyed reading this type of graphic novel–which was not what I expected at all going in! At the most intense parts of the story, it was as if the author knew words were not enough, so he provided the reader with images of what was unfolding: in quick succession, with zooming in for focus, and differing perspectives.
I found the pictures of the people's eyes up close to be the most captivating, and I could sit looking at them for hours. The illustrations told the story and the words just complimented it and filled in the details.
I LOVED this story. And how it was a book of moving images ABOUT moving images. Lovely!
I surprisingly enjoyed reading this graphic novel and thought it was a great new experience. I was expecting to not like it that much and just flip through the pictures, but the pictures were intriguing and really allowed you to slow down and enjoy the story. I liked having a change of reading style and thought it was great for the story. This was such a lovely book and one of my favorites!
I wasn't able to get my hands on the book so I listened to it on audio book. I definitely missed out on the experience of reading a graphic novel but it was really awesome listening to it. This is the first time i've done it and it was really cool. There were sound effects which added a lot to the story.
At first, I thought this graphic novel would be easy to read and fly by, because I thought I could just flip through the pictures. However, I realized that as a reader we had to carefully look at all the illustrations to get the full story. The pencil drawings added so much to the story, and made it more fun to read, even though it took a long time to get through.
I love this book! I did however find myself struggling to take the time to look at all of the illustrations. It was very easy for me to keep flipping through the pictures, and then I would have to make myself go back and pay more attention so I didn't miss anything. I loved how this book could so easily appeal to all types of readers and many different ages.
I thought this book was excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed the line drawings that accompanied the text. I thought it was very beneficial to have the pictures tell the action and the text provide the narration. To me, it helped move the story along at a nice pace and it didn't feel so bogged down in unnecessary details. I found myself being able to read this novel faster than most because I could follow along with the pictures well. There were very few times when I had to go back and refer to them because I wasn't sure what plot development had taken place. I found this graphic novel to be a simplified version of a more complex narration and I thought it was very appropriate/gave the story more meaning to tell it in this manner. I would definitely recommend this book to many of my friends!
I really enjoyed this book! It was my first graphic novel and I really liked the style. I did have to adjust my reading techniques to pay attention to all of the pictures, but I found that most of the plot came from the text. The pictures were an important part of the experience, but they did not really drive the story.
I thought the book took an interesting approach at telling a relatively unconventional story. I enjoyed the pictures because it helped aided my journey in the story with Hugo. In this particular case, I loved how they intermixed pictures with words, but I could also understand how this approach would hinder the reading experience.
I loved that the pictures accompanied the text of the story. I did find myself having to adjust the mental picture in my head of the setting and some events just because the way I pictured them did not match up to the author's interpretation. To me that was the only downside. But I feel in a book that places so much emphasis on the details of things it is important to have those "close up" images to really help the reader understand the message of the novel.
I loved reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret! Although at first I was unsure about reading a graphic novel as a college student, my experience was much more mentally engaging than I expected. Sometimes when I am not immediately drawn into the plot of a novel, my mind can wonder and skim over the words for pages of a book until an action catches my attention. In contrast, reading Hugo Cabret, I was emotionally invested and mentally drawn in from the very beginning. I had to actively interpret the images for myself to create meaning and could not simply read the words passively. In terms of reading strategy, I found that it was essential to stay focused because the sequence of pictures lost meaning if I got distracted and looked up from the page during a picture series. I enjoyed reading in this focused way because I really got immersed in the book.
I really enjoyed this type of book because it was extremely easy to stay involved and interested. The story was enhanced by the drawings. It was very well done!
I really loved this book. The graphics made me so engaged in what was happened and really focused on the storyline. It also kept me anxious to read more and get to the next graphics to see what would happen, etc. It also made me appreciate the words more than normal because I read very closely to make sure I understood everything.
I didn't think the story was that much different than a normal book. I expected almost all pictures, and there weren't enough for me in this book; it seemed almost like a normal illustrated kids book. I did like how it looked (symmetrical pages), and the story was good.
Did you LOVE this book, or what?!? (That's not the discussion question, but feel free to answer it.)
Let's keep it at the structural level for this online convo and we'll get deeper into the content when we meet face-to-face.
So, what was it like reading this type of novel/picture book/graphic novel when compared to reading our other choices this semester? Did you need to adjust your reading strategies or practices? Did you enjoy it or hate it?
Aubrey