Do you like to read but also enjoy beautiful black and white illustrations? Have you made your acquaintance with the graphic novel? The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a Caldecott Award winning hybrid of text and graphic illustration and a wonderful introduction to this rapidly growing and increasingly important literary influence.

This lovely book combines text, silent movie stills and black and white graphic representations to tell the story of Hugo, an orphaned boy living in Paris in the 1930's, who serrupticiously inherits the clock keeping responsibilities for the Paris Metro. Although the story is fiction, it incorporates Georges Melies, the first silent movie director to have included science fiction in his work. His famous movie A Trip to the Moon plays a crucial role as do other important silents. Mechanical automata also play a part. Through an unpleasant but ultimately fortunate encounter with a toy shop owner and an odd but book loving young girl, our illicit young hero comes to terms with his sad past, his precarious present and a portentious future.

Although a children's book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret may also appeal to teens and adults. Like The Wizard of Oz and the Harry Potter books it will stimulate the imagination in its own unique and luminous fashion. In addition, reading skills both textual and graphic are sure to get a delightful workout!