The Invention of Hugo Cabret. 0-439-81378-6. Brian Selznick. 2007. Caldecott Award. Age 9 -14. Caucasian French youth. Orphans during the Depression.
Hugo Cabret has been the apprentice to his uncle, the caretaker of the clocks in a busy Paris train station, since his father’s untimely death in a museum fire. When Hugo’s uncle disappears, Hugo continues to winding all the stations’ clocks so that his uncle won’t be missed and so he can keep his home inside the walls of the train station. To survive, Hugo steals food. Hugo also steals toy parts to repair an automaton, or mechanical man, which he thinks his father has programmed to write a personal message. After Hugo repairs a mechanical mouse he breaks while stealing, the shopkeeper takes Hugo’s father’s notebook and demands that Hugo work to pay off the debt. Hugo meets Isabelle, the shop owner’s goddaughter, who has the key which starts Hugo’s automaton. Together, they discover that the toy store owner is really Georges Meilies, a magician and famous silent film-maker, whose credits include Hugo’s father’s favorite movie “A Trip to the Moon.” Hugo gets Meilies recognized for his work. However, when the young boy returns to the train station to retrieve Meilies' automaton, he is caught by the stationmaster. Papa Georges gets Hugo released and welcomes the boy into his home. Hugo becomes the magician Professor H. Alcofrisbas, who is created with telling this story.
This is a great book to discuss how pictures or illustrations play an important role in telling a story. Students could experiment by writing an original short story and then replacing some of what they have written with a series of illustrations.
The outstanding literary feature in Brian Selznick’s story is the use of illustrations, photos, and scenes from Mieles’ films interspersed equally with text to keep the fast-paced narrative moving. Readers often have to turn several pages of sequenced illustrations to figure out what happens next to Hugo, the main character in the story. Selznick’s black and white drawings are a unique reflection of the time period, the emotions felt by the different characters, and of the theme of the impact of one man’s silent movies on future generations. The illustrations do not distract, but instead draw the reader in; they are similar to close-ups in a movie and give important clues to solving the mysterious connections between the old man in the toy shop and the drawings in Hugo’s notebook. The theme of magic is also woven throughout the book. Children of all ages can see the magic in the silent films, the magic in making inanimate objects come alive, and the magic in the imagination of the reader as her or she turns the pages to see what happens next.The theme of different kinds of families and relationships brought together through loss is also strong in this graphic novel. Some children will take comfort in seeing that although both Hugo and Isabelle have lost their parents, they do find another adult who cares for them. Children can see the importance about being passionate about something you love through Hugo and his father’s obsession with the automaton and through George Mieles’ real pictures and film shots. The illustrations foreshadow so many elements of the mystery of the automaton and Mieles that they might make the ending too predictable for readers who are attentive to the clues.
This book could easily be used in a middle school of high school classroom to discuss imagination, creativity, and mysteries. It could be the basis for a history discussion on orphans and the Great Depression or a communications discussion about the silent film era. In an art class, students could study Selznick’s use of movement in his illustrations and create their original artwork which focuses on movement. Students could use the book to spur research on early twentieth century mechanical inventions, including kinds of clocks, toys, and of course, the automaton. Finally, it could be fun for students to use this as a starting place to explore the world of magic.
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