Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

After reading Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret , I was looking forward to Wonderstruck , and I was NOT disappointed! If anything I think Wonderstruck was even better than Hugo . Selznick again uses his gift of storytelling through the pictures which don't just enhance the story, but move the story along.  And the stories are what make speed you through this this 450+ page book.     Selznick dances through time, allowing the reader to try and figure out the mystery of Ben’s Dad in the 1970s, juxtaposed against the mysterious girl we meet when the story takes a turn--the readers journey is in following both children on their mysterious quests.  The drawings are detailed and amazing. The story is interesting. I loved it. I loved it even more than Huge Cabret.   Here's a great review on NPR . 

When Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the illustrious Caldecott medal back in 2008 I was more than surprised. Judging by size alone, I couldn’t understand how a book nearly 550 pages long--many picture books are under 32 pages—even made it into the category with the other traditional picture books. The judges had somehow been hoodwinked!” (I must stop here and state that I have been known to be A. over reactive and irrational at times and B. a bit of a book snob—the latter was the reason I didn’t read any of the Harry Potter series until after the 6 th book came out. Big REGRET!) Fast forward the clock to now, the book has been turned into a movie (done by Martin Scorsese no less!) and the kids are asking for it again…and, well, I thought it was high time that I read it. And you know what. I liked it. I stayed up until 12:30a.m. this morning to finish reading it because I just had to see how things came together and I kept getting urged on by page after pag...