Selznick, B. The Adventures of Hugo Cabret. (2007). United States. Scholastic Press.
Wow! Someone could probably stop writing about Brian Selznick's "The Adventures of Hugo Cabret"after just that one word. Selznick's masterpiece may look a bit intimidating at first to both you and your students, but inside it's 533 pages is a beautifully written story that is over before you know it. Selznick, who is also the illustrator of the book, tells roughly half of the story uses pictures only in a picture storybook format. Although this creates a an absolute great read, the way in which the book is constructed makes it a book for older readers and one that they may enjoy more on their own than out loud.
The story itself is about a young boy, Hugo, who is orphaned and living inside the walls of a Paris train station. Hugo is forced to live a life where is stealing from those in the train station in order to survive, but suddenly Hugo's life is turned upside down when he meets a young girl about his age. Soon, Hugo's life and all it's secrets are in danger of being discovered. If you have never read about Hugo then it is highly recommended.
It may seem different to read a story just through illustrations but the artistic talent of Selznick makes it seem as though you are watching a movie. Selznick uses drawings, a charcoal pencil, to move the story without using any words. Since there are no words during many parts of the story, it is the job of the illustrations to portray all of the literary elements, such as plot, setting, theme, etc, to the reader so when the text does continue the reader knows exactly what is occurring.
This will be a top five children's book for a very long time and I am not meaning only in my category. This book will be read by all sorts of children for years to come!
Charlie, thanks. Here are a couple of things you can do. You write really well, and I enjoyed reading this. Could you change the font from blue to something lighter? Thanks. Also, be sure to support your use of literary elements for me - for example, you state, "it is the job of the illustrations to portray all of the literary elements, such as plot, setting, theme," but you don't say how the illustrations do that. I have a library friend that did this as a read-aloud at her school and the kids loved it! I would imagine that it took awhile!
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