The recipient of the Caldecott Medal in 2008 is Brian Selznick for his book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The Invention of Hugo Cabret follows a young boy, Hugo, on the streets of Paris in the early 1900's as his curiosity and his past catch up with him following his fathers death.

In a uniquely stylized book, Brian Selznick has separated words and pictures as the story is told. The experience of the book is much like that of a silent film making the method used to tell the story just as magical as the story itself.

Brian Selznick is the author of many other notable picture books and novels, including The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, Walt Whitman: Words for America, and When Marian Sang among many others.

The Caldecott Medal is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.