Wonderstruck

Selznick, Brian. 2011. WONDERSTRUCK. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 978-0545027892 [Suggested Grade Levels 4-9]

REVIEW

Brian Selznick scores again with his second illustrated historical fiction novel. WONDERSTRUCK, lavishly illustrated in Selznick’s indomitable style, focuses on two hearing impaired characters in settings fifty years apart. Rose’s story, told entirely in pictures, is set New Jersey in the 1920s when she is a young girl, missing her brother and dreaming of meeting an actress she adores. Ben’s story, told in both words and pictures, begins in Minnesota in the 1970s where he is living with his aunt and uncle after the death of his mother. Both children long to go to New York City-- Rose to find her brother and the actress, Ben to find his father and the Cabinet of Wonders his mother wrote about. Both journey alone to the city where they hope to find the answers to their quests. This masterful story weaves a seamless tapestry between the two characters, two time periods, and two journeys that are somehow linked together. Readers of this book will be wonderstruck with delight.

CONNECTIONS

Have students write a story about themselves mixing words and illustrations. Use this selection in an art class to model drawing techniques. Visit the Museum of Natural History’s children’s activity website “Ology” at http://www.amnh.org/ology/.

RELATED BOOKS

Konisgsburg, E.L. FROM THE MIXED –UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER. ISBN 9781416949756

Quinn, Stephen Christopher. WINDOWS ON NATURE: THE GREAT HABITAT DIORAMAS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. ISBN 9780810959408

Selznick, Brian. THE ADVENTURES OF HUGO CABRET. ISBN 9780439813785

By Janet Hilbun