![]() ![]() However, those other illustrators turned down the manuscript and Brian was brought on board. He was disappointed that the manuscript had been sent to other illustrators. I found out from my editor that she was working on a story about Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt,” Brian remembers. It almost didn’t happen: “I loved Riding Freedom and the fact that it’s a true story. Take a close look when you get your copy and you’ll see toys and games created from his fertile imagination including the game, “Where’s Grandpa’s Hat?”Īnother celebrated collaboration is Brian Selznick and Pam Muñoz Ryan. In one scene, Brian recreates a toy store from the perspective of the dolls. The newest Doll People book, The Runaway Dolls, will be coming out in the fall of 2008. ![]() Brian builds elaborate models of the dollhouse and its inhabitants so that when Mean Mimi from The Meanest Doll in the World comes into action, she really goes through the paces. With the Annabelle and Tiffany stories, Brian begins the illustrations once he has information about the new characters. For most illustrated books, there is very little give and take between the author and the artist. Some of his most popular collaborations have been The Doll People books written by Ann M. Looking through Brian Selznick’s past work, one is struck by the wide range of stories he tells, both as author/illustrator as in The Invention of Hugo Cabret and as illustrator for other authors including two Sibert Honor Books, Walt Whitman: Words for America and When Marian Sang. “I like hearing about how they engage the kids in discussing what they are seeing as the pages are turned, and the students are part of the narrative in a way they may not be when it is just text-based.” Brian concludes that students “can read the pictures back to the teacher.” Brian is the first to confess that he didn’t think about these approaches when he created the book, “but I’ve been so happy hearing all the ways the book is being used and embraced,” he adds. Visual literacy is increasingly important in today’s fast-moving world and Hugo Cabret provides a common ground for discussing and understanding it. “It allows them to engage in discussion with the kids about what they see and that brings up the whole idea of reading the images.” “One of the fun things I’ve been hearing from teachers is the various ways they share it with their class,” the author says. Educators have found Hugo especially rich for use in the classroom. Now, Brian is “amazed at the incredibly wide range of people who read the book.” At booksignings, his fans range from very small children to teens and even teachers. He decided that “If no one liked it, I would take what I learned and use it toward the next book.” “I had no idea if anyone would want to read it and what anyone would make of it,” recalls the now Caldecott Award-winning illustrator. Because it was about a filmmaker, Brian decided to treat entire swaths of the story graphically, like a camera swooping through the air and catching moments and images that cannot be told in words. ![]() ![]() The last two and a half years of his life had been dedicated to creating this book that was somehow more than an illustrated novel. When Brian Selznick finished The Invention of Hugo Cabret, he knew he liked it. ![]()
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