The Invention of Hugo Cabret | Brian Selznick | Good reason it won the 2008 Caldecott

The Invention of Hugo Cabret | Brian Selznick | A big hit with 5th graders!

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The Invention of H...

	The Invention of Hugo Cabret Brian Selznick Scholastic Press, 2007 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 201 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good reason it won the 2008 Caldecott

I know this book was a bit controversial within the children's book awards because it uses pictures to convey parts of the story (e.g. you MUST look at the pictures or you will miss information). All of the pictures are beautifully rendered in pen/ink no color. (Kindle, please?) Anyway, you can get the gist of the plot from the description, but as a parent, avid reader, and lover of most things literary - I just want to say WOW. This is probably one of the best books I have read in a long time for children. It is timeless. The use of art with text works seamlessly - captivating our more visual learners and video-focused children. It may not be for all (edit: is not for all), but this is one of the few books I can honestly say equally was enjoyable for a 1) 3 year old, 2) 9 year old, and 3) umm... let's just say... adult. This is a must own - re-read it to your children as they get older - pass it down kind of book.

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A big hit with 5th graders!

I loaned my copy of this book to a 5th grade to get their opinions. They groaned at the sight of the book because it was so long. I suggested they look inside before they make any final decisions. I asked them to pay particular attention to the illustrations. Ah....they didn't expect illustrations in a long novel. Once they got over the sight of a really, really long book, they read and read and talked about the book and recommended it to others. I was so pleased to see them not sharing the ending until everyone who wanted to read the book had done so. The kids were so thrilled with the book, they donated money and bought a copy for the school's library.

I personally was enthralled with the story in the text and the story in the illustrations. The art work was akin to watching a movie. Fantastic experience for me as a reader and as a teacher of literature.

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The Perfect Book

It was so enthralling! The illustrations were so descriptive that I could envision exactly what was happening in the text. Although the plot of the story was so captivating, the text was not elaborate but simple. That's what I enjoyed about this story... since the words were so simple and predictable, when looking at the illustrations I felt as if I could write the words they were meant to convey.

I have never had such a page turning read. I love to read and enjoy watching movies but both lack what this book had. When reading sometimes the author writes the simplest details out so you can follow the story, but those words seem to make me lose the excitement of the story. However, movies remove the necessity of the imagination and sifting through the story; it can be mindless.

This book removed the simple descriptions that cut from the excitement by replacing such texts with illustrations. Even the illustrations allow the audience to imagine as the reader is left to decode the drawings/photos into words so it makes sense with the rest of the text.

I loved it!!! I even enjoyed the format of the book. I loved that it had postmodern concepts (jumping between illustrations and text) but it also had an old school feel to it with the black trim on the pages, the crisp white pages with minimal text.

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a fantastic visual treat!

I love this book on so many different levels! groundbreaking in terms of children's literature plus every kid I've given it to lap it up! Thanks, Selznick!

My son ( 10) loved it!

I ordered this book for son who is 10, after reading all the great comments. I was sort of skeptical, a lot of pages. Also my son's mother language is not English. He finished the book in one day. In his own words, "the book kept telling me to go on reading until the end".

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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