The Marvels

About Brian Selznick

Caldecott Honour–winning illustrator and New York Times bestselling author Brian Selznick graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with the intention of becoming a set designer for the theatre. However, after spending three years selling books and designing window displays for a children’s bookstore in Manhattan, he was inspired to create children’s books of his own. His books have received many awards and distinctions, including a Caldecott Honour for The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins and a Robert F. Sibert Honour for When Marian Sang.

Brian travels extensively to research his books. He spent six months in Washington, D.C., for Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, he travelled to England for The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, and he visited Walt Whitman’s childhood home in West Hills, New York, for Walt Whitman: Words for America. Brian visited the city of Paris three times to research The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Brian’s most recent book is Wonderstruck.

Brian lives in Brooklyn, New York, and San Diego, California.

Brian on creating his groundbreaking book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret which combines elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film: "Several years ago, I read a review of a book called Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life by Gaby Wood. The review mentioned the true story of a collection of elaborate mechanical windup figures (known as automata), which had once been owned and loved by a great French film director named George Méliès. These amazing machines were eventually donated by Méliès to a museum in Paris, but the collection was neglected in a damp attic and eventually had to be thrown away. I imagined a boy finding these broken, rusted machines, and thus Hugo and his story were born."