Tag Archives: Brian Selznick

Wonderstruck at last!

So this finally came in the mail.

Perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated packages in a long time.  Needless to say, I began reading it immediately.

At first, I was a little underwhelmed, perhaps because the lead up to this book by game-changing author Brian Selznick was so great.  More lovely writing than The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I was told.  A stunning achievement.

I loved The Invention of Hugo Cabret; I thought the writing was fine the story absolutely enchanting, transfixing.  In other words, Wonderstruck had some pretty big shoes to fill and at first, it wasn’t happening.

Sure, the stories, the textual story about a boy in search of his father, the illustrated story about the girl, fifty years earlier, in search of a her mother, were interesting enough but there were no fireworks.  Until. . .

The stories began to merge.  The Museum of Natural History came into play in a big way with cabinets of oddities and allusions to the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,  Then there were the references to he 1964 World’s Fair, the Queens Museum and the panoramic replica of New York City that is housed there (I’ve stood before it in awe myself) and finally, the New York City blackout of 1977.

A children’s book, yes, but also a Generation X book if there ever was one, right up there with Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me, about growing up in New York City in the ’70’s.

One smile of recognition after another.

People lost and people found.  Yes, a beautiful symphony.

Read it, y’all.

SV

Advertisement

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

The Caldecott Nails It!

 Photobucket
Part two of the review of the Golden Legacy, Leonard S. Marcus Sets the Record Straight, which will deal more closely with the book itself and all the favorites readers wrote in about, will be coming soon.  But in the meantime, I could not resist commenting on my excitement that the American Library Association has selected illustrated novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret  by Brian Selznick as the winner of this year’s Caledecott award for children’s illustration. Bravo ALA committee for selecting such a brilliant, cutting edge book and busting out of the box to choose not a picture book but an illustrated novel!  You can read more about their selection of the book here.

But don’t miss touring the mysterious world of the book’s website here.

 I listed it on my top five for fiction a few posts ago; even though it’s technically a young adult novel, it captivates young and old alike with a seamless marriage of illustration and text, mystery and history.  It’s also beautifully written and no exaggeration to say that it represents the future of publishing.

Go read it!!

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized