A review by dlberglund
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

4.0

Paris, scrappy orphan, mystery, magicians (in the classic sense). I had students racing me to see who would finish this first. It's spreading through the classroom faster than our cold germs. The 500 pages are a MUCH quicker read than you might think, since about half of the pages are beautiful, full page black-and-white illustrations. [I still question a bit choosing it for the Caldecott, but that's my issue with the aging up of Caldecott books rather than awarding it to picture books for younger children.] It was a good story, made 10 times better by the illustrations. And there was enough in the acknowledgements to satisfy my curiosity about where the fiction blended with fact. If you can get your hands on a copy, you should read it.