37. The Invention of Hugo Cabret
written and illustrated by Brian Selznick
juvenile fiction, 2007
hardcover, 526 pages
library book
finished, 8/3/09
This is an original, amazing, creative, fascinating book and I loved it. Let's see, what shall I say? It is 'about' a young boy in the early 1930s who lives inside a train station in Paris. His father is dead, and his uncle is the man who takes care of all the clocks in the station. And I don't think I want to write more because it is a book best discovered by the reader without prior information. It is many pages long, but a lot of the pages are drawings,
and a lot of the word pages are short ones.
This is an excellent book to read to a child. How I wish it had been around when my dearies were little. It would have been such fun to come upon these drawings and talk about them together. It is a book with some history, especially film history, to explore with a child or on one's own. If you haven't read it, please do. You're in for a delightful, warm, interesting reading experience.
This is my go-to book for children's birthday presents!! Love it!
ReplyDeleteIsn't this a wonderful book? And really hard to try to describe to someone. Truly unique. I loved it! I too wish it had been around when the girl was young.
ReplyDeletePamela, what lucky kids!
ReplyDeleteKay, it is hard to describe, and I didn't want to say much. I loved finding the magic of this book page by page and thought others might as well.
I enjoyed this one, too. And now that you've reminded me of it, I think I'll get a copy for my youngest nephew for Christmas this year!
ReplyDeleteA perfect present, Les!
ReplyDeleteNan, I think you might enjoy this one too ... The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
ReplyDeleteAfter T.S. (a 12-year-old genius cartographer) receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing the award he's one, he sets out alone on a wild cross country adventure. From the family ranch in Montana, he travels and maps his exploits along the way. Wide margins of almost every page contain his maps, charts and illustrations.
One reviewer said, "who knew the combination of cartography and adolescence could prove to be so touching and so much fun?"
by the way, you've changed my perceptions of lilies for all time.
Your photos are gorgeous ... so many different colors!
Janice, thank you so much! I'm going to order it! If you go to amazon.com and type in the title, there is a little video, and words from the author. Boy, does it sound great!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks so much about the daylilies. I've loved highlighting one at a time, though I cannot fully capture the beauty with a camera.
I love young adult fiction and this one sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteMonica, such a good book!
ReplyDelete