The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick ☆☆☆☆☆

As a homework assignment for class, I didn't give this book much hope, but as you can see it surpassed expectations with a glorious five star rating from me.

This book falls into the genre of graphic novel, but I have to admit I believe it's better than that. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE comics (yes, I'm that geeky), but in terms of academic graphic novels I haven't been impressed. I have read both Persepolis and Maus for classes and while they were good at getting the story across, I found it difficult to concentrate on every single image. I know, that's contradictory to why graphic novels are now being used in the classroom, kids are supposed to be able to follow it better because their train of thought isn't lost in lines and lines of words. What I love about this book is that it is a perfect balance between pages of literature and pages of images.

The illustrations in this book were captivating and it definitely pulled off the effect of a film. I recently heard this book was going to be made into a film and I think it would be easy since it's already set up that way. Besides the visual aspects of this book, my other favorite part of it is how the book deals with the notion of the unconventional family. The majority of children today are now part of an unconventional family (my son is no exception) and for a book to include this storyline it opens up a dialogue for children to express how they really feel. This is a wonderful book that I highly recommend to anyone and everyone.