My Son's Book Report

I actually have never read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but because of my 5th grader's book report, my curiosity is definitely piqued! His description of the book led to a great discussion between the two of us and even a sneak peak at an original Georges Melies 1902 film on U-Tube. There is great joy when our kids teach us something. Thank you Payton!

Here's the book report:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is about a boy named Hugo Cabret who lives in a train station in the early 1900’s in France. When Hugo’s father died, he went to work with his uncle in the train station fixing clocks. But when Hugo’s uncle mysteriously disappears after a long night at the pub, Hugo is left to tend to the clocks himself, all the while unraveling a great mystery.

This story is unique because about a third of the book is detailed pencil illustrations. The illustrations were one of my favorite parts of the book. The author, Brian Selznick, is as good an artist as he is an author. I hope one day to say the same about myself.

The book is also unique because it blends two genres; mystery and historical fiction. Selznick uses real and imagined characters.

I actually learned some stuff reading this book. I didn’t realize that the first movies were made in France and that Georges Melies was really a film maker known as the “cinemagician”. I also learned that in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s movies were considered magic.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has a flair for the arts.