'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' and 'Wonder Struck' by Brian Selznick

I am very lucky to have a signed copy of Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  I've read this book to children in Year 5/6 (9-10 year olds), and I have just finished reading this story to Year 3/4 children (7-8 year olds).  Both age groups really enjoyed the mix of film images, intertwined with the written text and visual text.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret has been an inspiration for my own classes movie making projects. We watched some of the old movies that Georges Méliès created. You will find many of them on YouTube. The main movie featured in this books is  A Trip to the Moon.  

This story is set at the train station Gare Montparnasse and also features a photograph of the famous train crash in 1895.  One very talented child in my class has written a song about a boy meeting the girl of his dreams at a train station.  They're now busy creating a music video with their own drawings of this famous trains crash.

You can imagine all of our amazement when we received a copy of 'Wonder Struck.'  I also have a deaf girl in my class and no one has yet has worked out that one of the main characters in this book is also deaf.  We're only up to reading page 94.  

I'm also going to use this book to build on the children's visual literacy skills, their skills of making predictions and their inferencing skills.  

If you're a David Bowie fan, then this book could be your excuse to play some of his music in your class...I'm now off to the iTunes story to buy Major Tom!