The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Selznick, B. (2007). The invention of hugo cabret. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

 Caldecott Medal Winner, 2008

Exposition (the beginning of the story, establishment of setting and characters):  Brian Selznick’s skillfully written and brilliantly illustrated novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is mostly set at a train station in Paris, France in 1931; the story begins with Hugo Cabret, an orphaned clock keeper and thief by necessity, performing his uncle’s job of setting and repairing the multiple clocks in the train station. 

Conflict (the problem(s) faced by the characters):  Hugo struggles with surviving alone in the world without his father or uncle, making sure that the clocks are always in working order so that the train station inspector does not discover that his uncle has left, and with figuring out how to fix the automaton so that he can discover his father’s secret message.   

Rising Action (events in the story leading up to the climax):  Hugo’s father worked nights at a museum, and while working one night, he discovered a broken automaton which became the fixation of both he and Hugo; after his father died in a fire at the museum one night, Hugo later sneaks into the museum and steals the automaton, convinced that it would somehow save his life and that it had a secret message from his father.

Climax (the culmination of events in the story, point of highest reader interest):  Hugo steals toy parts from Georges Melies’ toy booth and is eventually caught and forced to work for him to pay back his debt; Hugo, however, continues to steal toy parts is eventually able to fix the automaton, and when he and Georges’ goddaughter Isabelle use her heart-shaped key to turn the automaton on, it draws a picture of Hugo’s father’s favorite movie, A Trip to the Moon, and signs Georges Melies’ name.

Falling Action (events leading to the solving of the story’s problems):  After visiting The Film Academy Library, Hugo learns that Georges used to be a magician and a very successful, and supposed dead, filmmaker, and A Trip to the Moon was one of his films, but when the movie industry went south, he and his wife vowed to never speak of movies again; the station inspector eventually discovers that Hugo’s uncle is dead and while chasing Hugo to put him in jail, Hugo is almost hit by a train, but is rescued just in time by Georges and Isabelle.

Resolution (how events and problems of the story are solved): Hugo is taken home to live with Georges, his wife Mama Jeanne, and Isabelle, and at a film academy event in honor of Georges’ work, he reveals that Hugo will become a magician named Professor Alcofrisbas, a character in one of Georges’ films; Hugo says that all of the machinery of the world lined up, somewhere a clock struck midnight, and his future seemed to fall perfectly in place, and at the very end we learn that an automaton created by Hugo wrote the 26,159 words and drew the 158 pictures in this book (Selznick, 2007).

Chapter books only (List two strong literary qualities displayed in the book and write one sentence about each quality): Selznick uses illustrations comparable to no other children’s illustrator in the world today to tell Hugo’s story; the reader is able to learn much of Hugo’s story, not through words, but through Selznick’s very detailed pencil drawings.  The other literary quality displayed in this wonderful book is Selznick’s use of tension; the reader sits on the edge of his seat, along with Hugo, as he struggles to survive, avoids the station inspector, fixes the automaton, learns its message, and discovers how toymaker Georges Melies is related to it all.

Picture books only (Was this a well illustrated book? Describe how it was or was not well-illustrated in 3 sentences.):  The Invention of Hugo Cabret is both a novel and a picture book combined, and it is one of the best illustrated books I have read, making it easy to see why I cannot keep this book on my library shelves.  Beautiful pencil drawings make up about half of this book, and Selznick uses them to tell part of Hugo’s story without any words.   The reader is effortlessly able to follow Hugo’s actions, read his thoughts, and guess his feelings by his facial expressions, and like he did in Wonderstruck, Selznick magnifies objects or expressions in the pictures that he wants to make sure the reader notices.