The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Written and Illustrated by Brian Selznick

Publisher: Scholastic Press 2007 511 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mystery

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Winner of the Caldecott Award 2007

Summary: This story is about a orphan, Hugo Cabret, that maintains the clocks in the train station in Paris after his uncle disappears. He meets Georges Melies and his goddaughter Isabelle when he is caught stealing from Georges’ toy booth. To punish him for it, Hugo is forced to work in the toy booth, fixing the broken toys. While he is fixing the toys, he manages to steal small gears to fix the automaton, which Hugo’s father was working on before he died and is somehow connected to Georges because he is convinced that Hugo stole the notebook. With the help of Isabelle, Hugo gets his notebook back from Georges because Georges took from Hugo and together they fix the automaton, but it only causes more questions because it draws a picture of a bullet going into the eye of the Man in the Moon, but it also writes the signature of Georges Milies. This convinces that Isabelle that Hugo stole the machine from her godfather. Hugo and Isabelle discover some pictures drawn by Georges, which were hidden in an armoire. Georges finds them with the drawings and destroys the drawing. Hugo, through his friendship with Etienne, does some research at the Film Academy library and discovers that Georges Melies was one of the first filmmakers. Through the help of Monsieur Tabard, one of Etienne’s professors at the Film Academy, they learn the story of Georges Melies’ film career. When the war came, his film company was ruined and Georges destroyed everything and has forced to sell his films to a company that melted them down into shoe heels, so he opens his toy booth and forbade his wife to ever talk to it about it. Georges and his wife adopts Hugo and he becomes a magician, which is his dream.

Ideas for Activities: (optional)

Discuss the early film industry or plan a unit of study centered around it.

Discuss the moral implications of stealing.

Response: I loved this book. The plot is very complex, the characters very well written and the illustrations are the best part. They draw you into the story better than the writing alone could have done.