About this title: Orphan, clock keeper, thief: Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Caldecott Honor artist Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience in this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781407103488ISBN:1407103482
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 534 pages. A cryptic drawing, a stolen key, a mechanical doll...spell-binding mystery in the streets of paris. an orphan and thief, hugo lives in the walls of a busy train station. he desperately believes a broken automaton will make his dreams come true. but when his world collides with an eccentric girl and a bitter old man, hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. turn the pages, follow the illustrations and enter an unforgettable new ... read more
Description: Selznick, Brian. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Advanced reader's copy in very good condition. Nice, clean and solid copy. FAST shipping! ! Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 533 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780439813785ISBN:0439813786
Description: Like New in Like New jacket. Bright like new copy in a like new dust jacket, pages clean, binding tight. 533 pp. "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 the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780545003636ISBN:0545003636
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Hardcover book in good condition, cover wear, especially at corners. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780439813785ISBN:0439813786
Description: Selznick, Brian. Very good in very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 533 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780439813785ISBN:0439813786
Description: Selznick, Brian. Fine in fine dust jacket. FIRST EDITION, March 2007 stated. One in number line. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 533 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly shipped from our UK warehouse using Royal Mail International Priority mail. Heavier or more expensive books are shipped with a TRACKING NUMBER. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780439813785ISBN:0439813786
Description: Selznick, Brian. New in fine dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 533 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: New. Please note that deliveries to addresses in the UK and Europe will be in 4-14 business days. Other countries should refer to Alibris standard times. ISBN10: 1407103482. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC BK SERVICES
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780439813785ISBN:0439813786
Description: New. Orphan, clock keeper, thief: Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Caldecott Honor artist Selznick breaks open the nove... read more
"What is a picture book? Prior to reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret, my answer to that question would be a beautifully illustrated and hopefully well-written short story with bright, bold colors and captivating language. Brian Selznick redefines this genre of children's literacy with his Caldecott Medal winning, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. With over 500 pages of written text and black and white drawings, The Invention of Hugo Cabret has forever expanded our perceptions of picture books and children's literacy. It is easy to understand why The Invention of Hugo Cabret was selected for the Caldecott Medal. Selznick's monochromatic illustrations are brilliant. Using a sequence of illustrations, Selznick reveals large portions of the story with no words. The intricate illustrations have movement leading the reader closer to the scene with each page. Selznick tells a story of an orphan living in a Paris train station. The boy, named Hugo, is keeping secrets. He has a mechanical man, or automaton, that his father discovered in a museum. After his father dies in a fire, Hugo finds the automaton and hides it in the train station. Hugo believes he can get the mechanical man to write a message from his father and he is driven to fix the machine with the help of his father's notebook. In order to eat and fix the automaton, Hugo has to steal supplies from a toy booth owned by George Melies. One day, George Melies catches Hugo stealing. It is then that Hugo's life becomes interwoven with George's life. Before long, he discovers more and more information leading to George's past life in the world of cinema. The story is captivating and the illustrations are a masterpiece. This distinguished picture book provides a visual, movie-like experience. It is clearly a significant achievement marked by eminence and individual distinction. Fascinated with both the story and the illustrations, I had a difficult time putting this book down. It was an easy read due to Selznick's writing style and the phenomenal illustrations. In spite of this, I do find myself wondering how many children under 14 would actually read this book. The physical size of the book may be daunting to most readers, even though a vast amount of the book is illustrations. In addition, the lack of color may prevent younger readers to give this outstanding piece of literature a chance. Students who do take the time to thoroughly read the text and illustrations will be greatly rewarded."
"To say I read "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" does not accurately describe my experience with this book. From the opening black pages showing progressively bigger and bigger drawings it felt like I was in a movie theater watching a film. As the drawings become full-page and more intricately drawn, I felt as if I was in a picture book. What is remarkable about the beginning of this book is that without a word, the reader is immediately placed inside the story. There is no mistaking where the reader is when looking at the drawing of Hugo Cabret looking out from behind the number 5 on the train station clock.
The story is quite simple, but the combination of detailed line drawings and the limited text come together to tell a story of one boy's life surrounded by intrigue and mystery. It is an experience that leaves the reader with a feeling of having read/watched a black and white book. Between the illustrations and the text, there are some tense moments for young Hugo and the girl he befriends, Isabelle. Hugo is living an secret life as he tries to steal toys from a shopkeeper - Isabelle's Godfather -- so he can repair a mechanical man his father left him. Life becomes complicated for him when the shopkeeper, in retaliation, steals a notebook that once belonged to Hugo's father containing the notes he made about the mechanical man. Isabelle tries to act an intermediary, but to no avail. As Isabelle and Hugo negotiate the terms of their friendship and also investigate the mysteries of the mechanical man, Hugo is desperately trying to stay under the radar of the authorities who would be interested to know that he lived alone in the train station. As the story unfolds Isabelle discovers that not only is Hugo living a secret life, but so are her Godparents.
There's a little bit of everything in this remarkable book. The drawings comprise over half the book, and tell the story so brilliantly that switching from text to illustration is effortless. Interspersed in the book are actual photographs that depict real life events, which brings an interesting perspective to the story, especially when it is revealed that the shopkeeper is, in fact, a real person who lived and died a long time ago. The blend between fact and fiction, and text and illustrations creates a well-rounded story that will keep the most reluctant readers engaged. If you picked this book apart and made it either a picture book or a traditional chapter book, I doubt very much it would gain anyone's attention, including the Newbery panel that awarded it's highest honor to The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The book is a masterpiece because of the combination between the illustrations and text. When it is revealed that the shopkeeper is a filmmaker, George Melies, and his real-life movie clips are introduced into the book, I found myself revisiting a college class I took about the history of film. The film from that era (pre-talking) is weird and surrealistic but creative and quite innovative. The parallels between the films this man made and the drawings of Hugo Cabret's life are very interesting. Both show incredible creativity and a desire to break from the common. In fact, some of the clips of Melies' films show just how bizarre his talent was.
Overall I enjoyed this book, and the only aspect of it I didn't care for were the real-life photos of Melies' films. They were just too trippy for me. I'm sure students on the other hand, will find the story and all the drawings engaging and interesting, especially since most children's imaginations aren't poisoned by life's realities. They'll accept fairy-bugs and fish being in the same photograph without question. Melies was ahead of his time combining pictures to create this type of photo. Photographers have been manipulating photographs to create something different ever since photograph was invented; and it still goes today with software called Photoshop, which can create a picture of a dog with a monkey head in one click. After reading this book I read an interview with Brian Selznick and watched an interpreted film clip of Melies "Trip to the Moon" film, and these two things gave me a complete experience with this book. Amazing."
"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 has much more depth though than This is not a Box, or Don't Give the Cat a Cupcake or even any of the books about that troublesome pigeon who wants to drive the bus and do other things birds aren't supposed to do. This book also is so much better than the first two Harry Potter books, which I have read and didn't care for very much. This book has the a great sense of wonder that adult books like Trip to the Stars has. It also has a feeling of the greatness and mystery of books and stories in general that reading Borges can induce, but this is for kids, which is cool because it's probably good for kids to learn that books are magical and fun at a young age. The pictures that make up about half the book are an interesting device. They do help move parts of the story along, like I think the chase scenes benefit from being done entirely by pictures, reading about a boy running away from someone wouldn't have had the same 'excitement' as in the pictures. I don't know much about kids but I think that the way the book opens with almost fifty pages of pictures gives a great feeling for the book which would be much more difficult to have described for kids in only words.
As I said I liked this a lot and the book made me happy that it existed in the world."
"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?"
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