Author: Brian Selznick
Rating: 
Reading Level: 4th-6th
Pages: 533
Publisher: Scholastic
Edition: Hardcover, 2007
The superb and impeccable design gives me such pleasure that I feel like hugging this big fact block of a book every time I see it! Selznick’s cinamatic illustrations that take up most of the 533 pages, blend seamlessly with the crisp text and enigmatic storyline.
I like how Hugo’s plans do not always pan out the same ways he imagined — often they go wrong, but in a very realistic way. The adults intervene just the right amount so the situation never becomes hopeless without reducing the excitement generated by Hugo’s desparation and urgency. Of course, there are a lot of coincidences, following the Dickensian storytelling tradition.
A most wonderful offer!
is a re-read. I loved this book upon first reading — more than 10 years ago. This second reading surprised me. I don’t remember ANY of the details, and I am usually really good at recalling details. Every scene and character was brand new to me — and not in a good way at all. I detest the didactic tone and the transparent “messages” of all the benefits of the imagination! (I don’t detest imagination, of course, just the way its worth is being handled in the book — and hey, whose idea is it that adults lose their imagination? I have a lot more imagination than some of the youngsters I know!)
This National Book Award Winner failed to intrigue me, either. It is nostalgic — faint echoes from old favorites such as Little Women and the E. Nesbit books. Some of the humor seems forced to me and the general complaint from other adult readers that the grown-ups in the story have almost no depth at all is a valid one. And to an extend, the children are stock characters themselves, each embodies a set of characteristics without surprises or changes. Their predicaments also don’t concern me much as a reader. Maybe I am too cynical and maybe this is a book for much younger children?
This title is mildly amusing but never did get me completely hooked.
I enjoyed reading this one: the main character is likable, the pacing is fast, and the problems are not that simplistically or easily resolved, although the story is a little bit outdated and does not include a real climatic scene.
