The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick
Illustrator: Brian Selznick


Comments:
What a captivating masterpiece! The Invention of Hugo Cabret is part picturebook, part novel. As the work is inspired by the film maker, Georges Méliès, the illustrations serve as shots, for action or close-up, which usually require pages of words to fully describe. Selznick's sketches can be as closely analyzed as his prose, and the alternating of illustrations and text gives the book its flow.

Copyright: Scholastic Press, 2007
Age level: 9-12
Format: Chapterbook, Picturebook
Genre: Historical Fiction, Wordless
Multicultural/International: French
Award: 2008 Caldecott Award
Location: Personal Collection
Rating: * * * * *

The Other Side

Author: Istvan Banyai
Illustrator: Istvan Banyai

Comments:
Banyai's wordless book explores the significance of perspective. The right-side page shows the initial perspective, and then you turn page to see the same action from another perspective. Some of the images throughout the book seem unrelated, but each pair of pictures is truly "worth a thousand words."

Copyright: Chronicle Books (July 7, 2005)
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Wordless Book
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * *

The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard

Author: Gregory Rogers
Illustrator: Gregory Rogers
Comments:
When a boy visits the Globe theatre in London and puts on a special cape, he's transported back in time. Unfortunately, he interrupts one of Shakespeare's performances and the chase ensues and embroils a bear and a baron. This is a wordless book with a graphic novel form. The sequence of events can be scanned quickly or closely analyzed.

Copyright: Roaring Brook Press, 2004
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Historical Fiction / Science Fiction
Multicultural/International: Set in London, England
Awards: Longlisted 2005: Quill Awards (US) in the best Children's Book of the Year Category;
Shortlisted 2005 : Children's Book Council Awards, Younger Readers;
Shortlisted 2005: 53rd APA Book Design Award Best Designed Children's Picture Book A
Location: Lookybook
Rating: * * * * *

My Friend Rabbit

Author: Eric Rohmann
Illustrator: Eric RohmannComments:
Eric Rohmann weaves a story about unconditional friendship and problem-solving. His illustrations in which characters and pages both have heavy, dark border is visually appealing. The orientation of the book also shifts throughout the story. Although the book contains text, both of its pages are wordless and the illustrations speak for themselves.

Copyright: Roaring Brook Press, 2002
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Fantasy, Wordless
Multicultural/International: No
Awards: 2003 Caldecott Medal
Location: Lookybook
Rating: * * * * *