Interview with Brian Selznick, prize-winning illustrator

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Several years ago, Brian Selznick wondered if his career as a children's book illustrator had stalled.After years of illustrating children's books, Selznick won a Caldecott Honor in 2002 for his illustrations in a picture book biography titled "The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins." More critical acclaim followed soon after for his illustrations in other picture book biographies on Walt Whitman and Marian Anderson.Although Selznick enjoyed the work, he worried that he was being pigeonholed as an illustrator of picture book biographies."I actually got to the point where I thought, 'Maybe I'm finished,'" Selznick said during a recent telephone interview from his San Diego home.Friends encouraged Selznick to keep working and think of ways to stretch himself. But nothing seemed to click for Selznick until one Sunday brunch with his librarian friend Susan Raboy, when he was suddenly inspired with ideas for two new projects.One was illustrating "Marley's Ghost," in which author David Levithan created an updated version of Charles Dicken's classic "A Christmas Carol." That effort, published in 2005, received mixed reviews.But Selznick's other idea -- to craft a new kind of children's novel in which the illustrations and the text worked together to tell the story -- proved to be his moment of genius. The resulting book. "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," has created a sensation among young readers and critics, who love the way Selznick combines a taut text with dozens of full-page black and white illustrations, allowing the story of a Parisian orphan to unfold like a film.To top it off, Selznick, 41,won the Caldecott Medal several weeks ago for "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," the first time a novel has been chosen for the coveted award given to the best illustrated children's book of the year.In choosing "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," the Caldecott committee noted that Selznick's book is filled with "cinematic intrigue" and has "cast new light on the picture book form.""Selznick's brilliant use of perspective heightens the book's drama as well as the sense that another surprise is just around the page turn," added Caldecott Award Committee Chair Karen Breen.Selznick said he deliberately wanted to create something new, and he certainly succeeded. Of the book's 533 pages, more than half are double-page illustrations, making it a novel that can appeal to even reluctant readers.In picture books, "the narrative is moved forward by the images. But that doesn't usually happen in novels for older kids," where there are few, if any, pictures, Selznick said. As he worked on his book, Selznick said he "took out big chunks of text and replaced them with narrative (illustrated) sequences."My goal, when I was finished, was that readers would not remember what they saw and what they read, but rather would see the story as a whole."Growing up in East Brunswick, N.J., Selznick always loved to draw. Throughout high school, Selznick was encouraged to think of a career in children's book illustration."I didn't want to do it. I really rebelled against it," Selznick said.Selznick entered the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design intending to be a film major. Instead, he ended up in illustration "because they had no requirements and I could do whatever I wanted to."After graduating, Selznick did various jobs but eventually realized that children's book illustration really was his metier. To pay the bills, meanwhile, he got a job at Eyeore's, a now-defunct children's bookstore in Manhattan, where he achieved a measure of fame for the illustrations he painted on the front window each month.In 1991, Selznick published his first book, "The Houdini Box," based on a project he did in college.Now he has an idea for another book in the style of "Hugo Cabret.""Hopefully, I can get started on that soon," Selznick said.(Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md. Library, can be reached at Kam.macpherson(at)gmail.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com).