The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures. New York: Scholastic, 2007. Print.

In The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Hugo an orphan toy enthusiast gets involved with a tomboy girl and bitter old storekeeper (also a toy enthusiast) and discovers a celebrity no one knew was in their midst.

Looking at the readability lexile, I would place the language in the text at an upper elementary level.  The story does have some longer words and French words, however the reader can often get a very solid understanding of what the language is describing through the many pictures throughout the book.  Cognitively, the book is upper elementary because children must apply logical rules, reasoning and formal operations to interpret and solve the mystery that is Georges' life past and present.  Socially, I can again see upper elementary students relating to the rebelliousness of authority at many points (Hugo living on his own and going against the wishes of the Milie parents).

When looking at the characteristics of high quality literature, I most saw the text inspiring and motivating students and showing the strength of male and female characters.  In the text I couldn't help but think of the enjoyment the readers would get from seeing two children discover the truth about Georges' past and outsmart adults.  Young readers love solving a mystery, especially when adults can't.

This isn't without screw-ups, however.  When at the Milie household, Hugo and Isabelle discover pictures from Georges' past and he has a meltdown and locks himself in a room.  He eventually came around, however the lack of tact and maturity by the kids showed their youth but also their intrepidness in discovering his true past.  Both Hugo and Isabelle are intelligent, cunning and very capable children.  Hugo fooled the men at the train station for months that his uncle was still alive and setting the clocks and Isabelle was able to sneak easily into the movies and recognize how to work the automaton.

The literary elements I saw in The Invention of Hugo Cabret were: setting as historical background, theme of personal development and style.  The historical background in the text is the importance of film, entertainment and the arts in Paris in the first half of the twentieth century.  Paris has always been an artistic jewel and Georges' past is no exception. If the story was set in any other place the story would not be very believable.  The frequency curios shops and magic was available shows that Paris was a welcoming city for Georges' past and eventual acceptance into the annals of artistic history. 

The theme of personal development pertains to Georges as he was an angry man who found delight in destroying Hugo's notebook and eventually transformed into a respected elder of the arts accepting a medal of achievement.  This was an evolution that happened as a result of Hugo and Isabelle's clumsy but successful actions in rekindling Georges' past.

Finally, the style of the book with the text and extremely beautiful pencil drawings adds a literary and artistic element to the story.  I would have never had any idea what an animaton was or what it looked like without the illustrations.

One idea for a mini lesson would be for students to write a short story and then draw accompanying pictures.  Several students could show the class the pictures and ask if they could interpret the story.  This activity would show the class the importance of using descriptive writing and pictures that convey the story.

Looking back at The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the target is both male and female reader because of the prominence of Hugo and Isabelle as main characters along with movies, drawings, magic and solving a mystery.  The graphical novel format is popular with many young readers so I feel any reader above the middle elementary level could enjoy the text assuming they have a high enough reading stamina and aren't intimidated by such a long book (even though illustrations take up many of the pages).