On the Road with Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

Scholastic Press, 2007. 533 pages. RL 5.6.

Let's travel to 1930's Paris, France! Within the walls of a bustling railway station in the City of Lights, Hugo Cabret, an orphaned clock keeper and thief, lives an isolated existence. Hugo meets a bookish young girl and an elderly toy booth owner who change his life—and place his well-guarded secret in jeopardy. We begin our Reading Road Trip to the magical, imaginative, page-turning world of Hugo Cabret with a video book review by fifth-grader Alex B.:

Automaton by Alex B.

Alex B. also shared original artwork inspired by The Invention of Hugo Cabret: an illustration of a mechanical writing automaton! 
Next, let's visit the workshop of master illustrator David Macaulay to learn more about The Way Things Work (click the red highlighted words).  We can watch fascinating demonstrations of the inner workings of all sorts of  things... the Internet, musical instruments, and drinking straws, for example. And while we're at it, we can play games inspired by Hugo Cabret.  Click the red highlighted words and then on "Explore Hugo Cabret" to open the tool trunk, the mechanical maze, and the automaton workbench.

Live from the Garden State Parkway: Brian Selznick, the author and illustrator of Hugo Cabret, was born in New Jersey! In addition to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, he has written and illustrated several other books, including The Houdini Box and The Boy of a Thousand Faces:

If we take a close look at the cover artwork and illustrations for Frindle by Andrew Clements, The Doll People by Ann Martin and Laura Godwin, and the Caldecott Honor book The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley, we'll recognize Brian Selznick’s distinctive artistic style.

While we’re exploring the world of Hugo Cabret, we might take a side excursion… to the moon! We've learned that Brian Selznick found inspiration for his book in the work of George Méliés, a movie maker who made films in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1902, Méliés created the very first science fiction film, A Trip to the Moon. Let's take a look:

The Automaton by Caroline M.

Down the road: we can expect a Nintendo DS game based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In November 2011, we’ll look for a 3D adventure film based on the book, directed by Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese and starring Asa Butterfield, Chloë Moretz, Ben Kingsley, and Sacha Baron Cohen.  
Fifth grader Caroline M. found The Invention of Hugo Cabret “very interesting.” She recommends the book because “it allows you to have an imagination when you read.”