The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, follows the story of orphan, thief, and clock keeper Hugo Cabret.  Hugo is the time keeper at a Paris train station; he takes up the position after his uncle disappears.  Hugo spends his days fixing up an old automaton his father had been working on before he died.  He followed the plans in his father’s old journal and took parts from a toy store across the street.  However, when he is caught by the owner of the store, he loses his precious journal and must learn how to fix the automaton himself.  Using all that he has learned he finally gets it working and with a special key from the god daughter of the toy store owner the automaton reveals a magical secret.  The old man is the great movie maker Georges Melies (he made A Trip to the Moon in 1902).  Reminding the old toy keeper of his incredible past, Hugo is taken in and becomes part of their family. 

Selznick does a wonderful job holding together a 500 page mystery while seamlessly weaving in illustrations and allusions to 1930’s Partis and classic films of the time.  The illustrations are precise yet gentle almost mimicking the main character Hugo.  Along with the illustrations are movie stills which make the book more like the silent films it is about than a regular children’s book.  Everything about the novel is beautiful.

Selznick was born July 14 in 1966.  He graduated from RISD and has won a number of awards for his work.