Son of a watchmaker, and now secretly living behind the walls (and clocks) of an old Parisian train station, Hugo Cabret makes a discovery that surely any Steampunk fan would envy;  he finds an old, broken automata from the collection of Georges Melies (he of the Trip to the Moon fame) and with clockwork knowledge in his heart, he sets out to repair it.  Featuring clockwork men, toymakers and (heavens above!) a girl, it won’t go smoothly for 12yr old Hugo – but it will be an adventure!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is a wonderfully chunky and surprisingly visual novel for readers young of heart – with over 300 illustrations, it claims to be neither graphic novel or comic, but combines sequential pages of scene setting images with pages of rip roaring text.  I admit to having almost picked it up before the holidays (alas I was not shopping for myself) and it was a lovely book to hold, pleasantly tactile – and reader Diergray (one of two who suggested it) said that both they and their six year old enjoyed it greatly!  Thank you to Diergray, Diergray’s young Steampunk fan and Ms Delaney!