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The Invention of Hugo Cabret
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| List Price: | $22.99 |
| Price: | $15.63 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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Product Description
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, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #186 in Books
- Published on: 2007-01-30
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 544 pages
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Book Description:
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, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
Amazon.com Exclusive
| A Letter from Brian Selznick When I was a kid, two of my favorite books were by an amazing man named Remy Charlip. Fortunately and Thirteen fascinated me in part because, in both books, the very act of turning the pages plays a pivotal role in telling the story. Each turn reveals something new in a way that builds on the image on the previous page. Now that I'm an illustrator myself, I've often thought about this dramatic storytelling device and all of its creative possibilities. My new book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is a 550 page novel in words and pictures. But unlike most novels, the images in my new book don't just illustrate the story; they help tell it. I've used the lessons I learned from Remy Charlip and other masters of the picture book to create something that is not a exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things. I began thinking about this book ten years ago after seeing some of the magical films of Georges Méliès, the father of science-fiction movies. But it wasn't until I read a book called Edison's Eve: The Quest for Mechanical Life by Gaby Woods that my story began to come into focus. I discovered that Méliès had a collection of mechanical, wind-up figures (called automata) that were donated to a museum, but which were later destroyed and thrown away. Instantly, I imagined a boy discovering these broken, rusty machines in the garbage, stealing one and attempting to fix it. At that moment, Hugo Cabret was born. A few years ago, I had the honor of meeting Remy Charlip, and I'm proud to say that we've become friends. Last December he was asking me what I was working on, and as I was describing this book to him, I realized that Remy looks exactly like Georges Méliès. I excitedly asked him to pose as the character in my book, and fortunately, he said yes. So every time you see Méliès in The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the person you are really looking at is my dear friend Remy Charlip, who continues to inspire everyone who has the great pleasure of knowing him or seeing his work. Paris in the 1930's, a thief, a broken machine, a strange girl, a mean old man, and the secrets that tie them all together... Welcome to The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Yours, Brian Selznick |
Dear readers, Amazon.com Exclusive
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--Brian Selznick |
Brian Selznick on a "Deleted Scene" from The Invention of Hugo CabretMore from Brian Selznick
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|  The Boy of a Thousand Faces |
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Here is a true masterpieceâan artful blending of narrative, illustration and cinematic technique, for a story as tantalizing as it is touching.Twelve-year-old orphan Hugo lives in the walls of a Paris train station at the turn of the 20th century, where he tends to the clocks and filches what he needs to survive. Hugo's recently deceased father, a clockmaker, worked in a museum where he discovered an automaton: a human-like figure seated at a desk, pen in hand, as if ready to deliver a message. After his father showed Hugo the robot, the boy became just as obsessed with getting the automaton to function as his father had been, and the man gave his son one of the notebooks he used to record the automaton's inner workings. The plot grows as intricate as the robot's gears and mechanisms [...] To Selznick's credit, the coincidences all feel carefully orchestrated; epiphany after epiphany occurs before the book comes to its sumptuous, glorious end. Selznick hints at the toymaker's hidden identity [...] through impressive use of meticulous charcoal drawings that grow or shrink against black backdrops, in pages-long sequences. They display the same item in increasingly tight focus or pan across scenes the way a camera might. The plot ultimately has much to do with the history of the movies, and Selznick's genius lies in his expert use of such a visual style to spotlight the role of this highly visual media. A standout achievement. Ages 9-12. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 4–9âWith characteristic intelligence, exquisite images, and a breathtaking design, Selznick shatters conventions related to the art of bookmaking in this magical mystery set in 1930s Paris. He employs wordless sequential pictures and distinct pages of text to let the cinematic story unfold, and the artwork, rendered in pencil and bordered in black, contains elements of a flip book, a graphic novel, and film. It opens with a small square depicting a full moon centered on a black spread. As readers flip the pages, the image grows and the moon recedes. A boy on the run slips through a grate to take refuge inside the walls of a train stationâhome for this orphaned, apprentice clock keeper. As Hugo seeks to accomplish his mission, his life intersects with a cantankerous toyshop owner and a feisty girl who won't be ignored. Each character possesses secrets and something of great value to the other. With deft foreshadowing, sensitively wrought characters, and heart-pounding suspense, the author engineers the elements of his complex plot: speeding trains, clocks, footsteps, dreams, and moviesâespecially those by Georges Méliès, the French pioneer of science-fiction cinema. Movie stills are cleverly interspersed. Selznick's art ranges from evocative, shadowy spreads of Parisian streets to penetrating character close-ups. Leaving much to ponder about loss, time, family, and the creative impulse, the book closes with a waning moon, a diminishing square, and informative credits. This is a masterful narrative that readers can literally manipulate.âWendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Customer Reviews
The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
I had read this book before I purchased, so I must admit that I was already sold. Amazon had a good price, and I couldn't really find it available anywhere else.
This is an amazing children's book, original, and thoroughly enjoyable for adults alike.
It's about an young orphan boy, an old man, a young girl and a incredible piece of automata; the story is a mystery, and as the story unfolds, all the missing pieces of the story are found along the way and eventually they are all restored to it's rightful place.
Like a perfectly designed machine, that had long been neglected, being discovered, by the one person, who could who could unlock the true potential in the machine and within them self.
There are several sites about the author/illustrator and book, available online one particularly intersting site is [...]
I hope customer enjoy's the book as much as I did!
Amazing Mix of Imagery and Text
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a visually stunning, compelling story I am already thinking about re-reading. The book is different than many I've read in this age range because it opens with a series of beautiful, text-less drawings (almost like a David Wiesner book), but they are set in a novel format more similar to a large, later Harry Potter book. The book is a fast read as it alternates between the drawings and a few pages of text. It makes for an interesting affect as you become engrossed in the story, and then walk through the drawings almost like you are seeing a silent movie of climactic action in each chapter.
Writing-wise, I also thought the story lived up to a high caliber. Like many good stories, The Invention of Hugo Cabret does a great job of giving the reader lots to wonder about in the beginning that fuel the reader's interest through the 500+ pages of this tome. I literally could not put the book down for the first 300 because I was constantly wondering how key plot questions would be resolved and when certain secrets would be revealed.
All-in-all, a unique, creative, and engaging book. Don't let it's size scare you!
Amazing Book!
This is one of the best books I have ever read. The images grab you immediately and suck you right into the book. I'm a 4th grade teacher, and my students love that they can read a 400+ page book in less then a week. We also have enjoyed the research links in the back. Two Thumbs Up for an amazing book!
