So I’m reading through my weekly edition of AL Direct and I notice that no matter what worldwide occurrence takes place, librarians are always there. Whether it’s damage to two libraries in Egypt, stories from the librarians in Christchurch, New Zealand, or how the Wisconsin Library Association delayed Library Legislative Day due to the protests, the profession is there. That last story was of particular interest to me, since I had wondered whether any school librarians were amongst the protesters in Wisconsin lately. According to the article, they most certainly are. You go, guys!! Seriously, I want to hear more about it. If any of you know any school librarians marching in WI, send them my way. I’d love to do a full post on them.
- Speaking of folks in the news, I have to give full credit to author/illustrator Katie Davis for consistently locating the hotspots in children’s literature and convincing folks to talk to her about them on her fabulous podcast. In the past she’s managed to finagle everyone from the editor who wanted to replace the n-word in Huckleberry Finn to James Kennedy on the 90-Second Newbery. Now she’s managed to get Bruce Coville to talk about what went down when he and fellow children’s author Liz Levy got stuck in Egypt during the protest period. That Katie. She’s got a nose for news.
- I’m having a lot of fun reading How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely these days, and I can’t help but see echoes of the plot in this story about the man behind the Hardy Boys novels. We hear about the various Carolyn Keenes all the time, but why not the Dixons? After reading this old piece in the Washington Post from 1998 (The Hardy Boys The Final Chapter) I feel vindicated. I reread some of my old Three Investigators novels not too long ago and they STILL held up! I always knew they were better than The Hardy Boys. Now I have proof. I was going to save the link to this essay until the end of the Fusenews today, but it’s so amusing and so delightfully written that I just have to encourage you, first thing, to give it a look. Thanks to The Infomancer for the link.
- Fun Fact About Newbery Winning Author Robin McKinley: She’s learning to knit. Related Sidenote: She also has a blog. Did you know this? I did not know this. And look at the meticulous use of footnotes. McKinley should write the next Pale Fire. I would
Because, as we all know, I’m a muddle-head with no time to read actual books this year, I’ve asked the lovely Brianne Farley (a woman I met through blog-comments) to step in and pick up the slack. And Brianne has done just that!
So here, for the first time, a Bewilderview! A guest-blogger reviewing a book for children, (and being sucked into the Kidlitosphere forever. Mwahahaha! What do you think she’ll call her *own* blog when she starts one next week? Hmmm?)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Brian Selznick
While the first thing one notices about Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret is the size (over 2 inches thick and 533 pages), it is not the most remarkable quality. Selznick’s tome is a well-researched, genre-crossing beauty that, in the tradition of Roald Dahl and maybe J.K. Rowling, asks a bit more of its audience then does the average young-adult fiction.
Hugo Cabret, the orphaned son of a Parisian clockmaker, is living in the walls of a train station in 1931. Here, he fixes the clocks and attempts to repair an automaton—an intricate, clockwork man—his father was working on when he died. The automaton leads him to a strange relationship with the owner of the train station’s toyshop. This man is revealed to be Georges Mèliés, the magician-turned-filmmaker most famous for Le Voage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), who brought the dream world to life in then-new media of the motion picture.
Selznick’s tale is a captivating mix of words, illustration, photographs, and Mèliés’ drawings and film stills. While the book remains in keeping with many conventions of the genre—Hugo is an orphan and a thief, he defies authority, and he values imagination—Hugo Cabret pushes the boundaries of traditional picture books and winds up straddling the border of graphic novel and historical fiction. And it makes one ask, why? Why did Selznick choose to tell this particular tale as a children’s picture book?
The subject, for one, is appropriate. Georges Mèliés was the ultimate boundary-pusher of his time and media, and it is incredible that Selznick has chosen to highlight a spectacular and obtuse artistic rabble-rouser for a new generation, one that might not have discovered him while angst-ing with the Smashing Pumpkins. At the end of his book, Selznick points the reader to a website about Mèliés and a YouTube video of a 19th Century automaton that writes poetry and draws ships—truly catering to a tech-savvy generation. The book, in other words, asks the reader to research this nearly-real tale on his/her own; the setting, the cinematographer, and the automaton are all there for a reader to explore.
What I, personally, would like to applaud Selznick for is his faith in his audience, those open minds that are not yet attached to hard-edged genres, and that are ready to scoot a little further out of fantasy and into world. I would like to think that he chose his genre, and the manipulation of it, with this goal in mind. I would like to think he is breeding future artistic rabble-rousers.
This article appears on School Library Journal.com. I'm not surprised at the debate around Hugo Cabret's eligibility for the Caldecott, although it does not match the level of controversy which met Sue Patron's Newbery for The Higher Power of Lucky last year. But it seems clear that there is a preconceived--or perhaps preapproved?--idea of what constitutes a picture book, and "Invention" deviates from that in a big way. But if you read the terms and criteria for the Caldecott medal, as specified by the American Library Association, then it is hard to argue that "Invention" is not a picture book.
A "picture book for children" as distinguished from other books with illustrations, is one that essentially provides the child with a visual experience. A picture book has a collective unity of story-line, theme, or concept, developed through the series of pictures of which the book is comprised.
That's the first criteria. And since I feel that for the reader The Invention of Hugo Cabret is all about an experience, I'm won over with the very first point. And besides, who could begrudge such a magnificent book this honor?
And you can expect to see him a lot more in the future, now that The Invention of Hugo Cabret (my 2007 Book of the Year, by the way!) is the recipient of the 2008 Caldecot Medal. Newsweek has a very nice interview with author Brian Selznik, in which he talks about his time working in a bookshop and the fact that Martin Scorcesse in making the book into a film (although I kind of wonder if that's totally necessary. And will it be silent?) There are a few spoilers in the article, so if you are planning to read it anytime soon (and why wouldn't you?!) and don't want to know the secrets of the story.....consider yourself warned.
Shaun Tan
Arthur A. Levine / Scholastic 2007
Okay: wow.
I have this feeling everyone is going to fall all over this book (if they haven't already) for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Tan put four years into researching and preparing this book and every minute of every day of those four years is visible on the page. In his wordless tale of the immigrant experience
You can read my book review of THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick in this Friday's Variety. I'll link to it here when it comes out.
The book is fabulous. It tells the story a boy--orphaned, working as a timekeeper in a train station, and stealing parts to fix an automaton that will write. The boy, Hugo Cabret, believes the writing automaton has an important message for him, possibly from Hugo's father.
The story captures the mystery and intensity of a boy alone in a larger world. It also reminds us of a time when mechanical marvels were thought to be magical (that's almost the way I view how my computer works now!).
So here's a look at some old time mechanical marvels.
An 18th century French writing doll.
And a look inside at how it works.
And a 19th century doll writing kanji.
And if you want to understand how it works, here's a little article explaining the mechanical principles. Automatons
You can see a small sample of the variety of automatons at this gallery . And see a picture of yet another writing automaton here: Renee's
And if you want to read more, or make your own, here's a place to get more books and tools. AmazonHasEverything
But if you don't want to spend money, you can get a quick glimpse of the history of automatons, i.e. robotics (and learn where that term came from if you don't already know), here: HistoryofRobotics
The fascination with machines is as old as humankind. And a good story about a kid who is fascinated with a machine--well, that's THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET.
I’ve been meaning to pick up HOW I BECAME A FAMOUS NOVELIST ever since John August mentioned it on his blog. He tells the story of optioning the book in his usual charming fashion here: http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/how-i-became-a-famous-novelist. I’m gratified to hear someone dumping on the Hardy Boys. I hated those books as a kid … along with all the other series in which nothing actually happened to the characters. Why read a book that ends where it starts? (I will make an exception for Beckett.) That bias is probably the same reason I don’t watch procedural dramas today.
I’m probably reading the book for the same reason you’ve been meaning to pick it up. Which is to say, I think Matt read the John August piece, got intrigued, read it, and passed it on to me. It feels so up-to-date and contemporary too. I have to wonder how well it will age, or if the books that are blockbusters now will continue to remain the same kind of blockbusters ten or twenty years down the road.
Three Investigators 4-Evah.
Ah, I was always a Nancy Drew fan and only read Hardy Boys comics (put out by Walt Disney when they were airing The Hardy Boys on The Mickey Mouse Club.) However, my tender young writer’s heart was crushed when I found out that Carolyn Keene was a psuedonym for a stable of writers. *sigh*
“You go, guys!!!” How about a little objectivity? How about a Wisconsin public school where the librarian’s job description, according to the principal, was “to provide release time for the teachers”, which they were entitled to in their union negotiated contract? Yes, I went – to a non-union charter school (at half the pay), not to protest in Madison.
>bites his lip, Jupiter Jones-style and nods approvingly<
I am SO with you on the 3 Investigators! Jupiter Jones rocks!
Hey, I’m planning to do a little piece of Library Advocacy this weekend with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. I’ll post about it on my blog, and then will try to get a little attention… We’re supposed to be happy that they aren’t planning any further cuts this year, after they cut 30% the last two years. I am glad to have a job back, but it’s still rotten for the people of the county….
I LOVED the 3 Investigators!
I was in first grade when the childrens librarian introduced me to the Hardy Boys. I didn’t like them that much, but I could read them very quickly, which mattered to me for some reason. And then, I found Nancy Drew and I never picked up another Hardy Boys again. To this day, I wonder why the librarian showed me the Hardy Boys but not Nancy Drew.
L is for Lisa who loves your blog.
I’m in Boston this weekend, signing at Peter Reynold’s Blue Bunny bookstore on Saturday. When I saw on your blog that there’s a Gorey exhibit in town I was soooooo excited. Can’t wait to see it!
Thank you Betsy! I should get images from the show in a week or so.
The entire first chapter of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE on a bathroom wall? Some people have waaaaay too much time on their hands.
Great post, Betsy!