There, I said it. Let the scandal ensue.
Brian Selznick, author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007) and Wonderstruck (2011), is a great talent. His words and art combine to produce works that spark curiosity about the world: how it works, where it’s going, where it’s been, and who lives in it. The debut of his distinctive style was with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a story about a Parisian orphan boy in the 1930s who repairs an automaton that he finds in the garbage. The automaton, once repaired, draws a picture that leads Hugo on to a bigger mystery surrounding the crotchety old man who operates a toy booth in the city’s train station. (Interestingly, this was inspired by a salvaged mystery automaton at the Franklin Institute who signed the name of its maker after it was repaired– keep on dreaming, archaeologists.)
Hugo and the automaton
KID LIT ADVENTURES 