Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-6-Brian Selznick's atmospheric story (Scholastic, 2007) is set in Paris in 1931. Hugo Cabret is an orphan; his father, a clockmaker, has recently died in a fire and the boy lives with his alcoholic Uncle Claude, working as his apprentice clock keeper in a bustling train station. When Hugo's uncle fails to return after a three-day absence, the boy decides it's his chance to escape the man's harsh treatment. But Hugo has nowhere to go and, after wandering the city, returns to his uncle's rooms determined to fix a mechanical figure-an automaton-that his father was restoring when he died. Hugo is convinced it will "save his life"-the figure holds a pen, and the boy believes that if he can get it working again, it will deliver a message from his father. This is just the bare outline of this multilayered story, inspired by and with references to early (French) cinema and filmmaker George Melies, magic and magicians, and mechanical objects. Jeff Woodman's reading of the descriptive passages effectively sets the story's suspenseful tone. The book's many pages of pictorial narrative translate in the audio version into sound sequences that successfully employ the techniques of old radio plays (train whistles, footsteps reverberating through station passages, etc.). The accompanying DVD, hosted by Selznick and packed with information and images from the book, will enrich the listening experience.-Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Brian Selznick is a Caldecott-winning author and illustrator of children's books born July 14, 1966 in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and then worked for three years at Eeyore's Books for Children in Manhattan while working on his first book, The Houdini Box. Selznick received the 2008 Caldecott Medal for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. He also won the Caldecott Honor for The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins in 2002. Additional awards include the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Rhode Island Children's Book Award, and the Christopher Award. The Invention of Hugo Cabret will be made into a film by director Martin Scorsese to be released in 2011. Other titles by illustrated by Selznick include: Frindle, The Landry News, Lunch Money and Wingwalker. (Bowker Author Biography)