Not Quite Yet

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I am a firm believer in the idea that kids can handle more than we think they can. That being said I don't think either of the girls are ready for Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  This is a novel in words and pictures.  The plot is often advanced by a sequence of pencil sketches.  As someone who has read everything for years and years it was a different experience to fill in the story based on the pictures.


The pictures are fantastic and leave little doubt as to what is actually happening in the story.  Looking back it was really nice to not have everything spoon fed to you.  I felt like the sketches really let me experience the story in a way that can't happen when you just have text.  But the text and pictures together make for one incredible experience.

This was a book I literally could not put down.  And I'm not the only one who loved it. I met a friend, Sarah Kate,  who is getting her masters in Library Science for dinner and she saw the book in my bag (I told you I couldn't put it down).  Her whole face lit up and she said, "you're reading that, oh my gosh I love that book.  It is so great."  Now that I have finished it I have to agree.

My friend Sarah Kate and I-we used to meet for tea, now we swap titles of our favorite kids books

So if the book is so great why am I not reading it to the girls?  Well Leah is 2 and many of the concepts in the story are beyond her understanding.  My original plan was to read it in sections to Eva while Leah was napping but after Eva's poor reactions to books in black and white I decided to wait a little bit.  I think this is a book to return to at the end of the year, after we have looked at a huge variety of picture books and her mind is a little more open.  For that reason this is a 'not quite yet' book.

But for those of you who are grown ups this is a 'read right now' book.

Experiencing a story...that's kids stuff.