The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

by Mordicai Gerstein (Author) Mordicai Gerstein (Illustrator)

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
From a highly respected picture book author/illustrator comes a lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers. Full color.
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Hardcover
$21.99

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review
This effectively spare, lyrical account chronicles Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between Manhattan's World Trade Center towers in 1974. Gerstein (What Charlie Heard) begins the book like a fairy tale, "Once there were two towers side by side. They were each a quarter of a mile high... The tallest buildings in New York City." The author casts the French aerialist and street performer as the hero: "A young man saw them rise into the sky.... He loved to walk and dance on a rope he tied between two trees." As the man makes his way across the rope from one tree to the other, the towers loom in the background. When Philippe gazes at the twin buildings, he looks "not at the towers but at the space between them.... What a wonderful place to stretch a rope; a wire on which to walk." Disguised as construction workers, he and a friend haul a 440-pound reel of cable and other materials onto the roof of the south tower. How Philippe and his pals hang the cable over the 140-feet distance is in itself a fascinating-and harrowing-story, charted in a series of vertical and horizontal ink and oil panels. An inventive foldout tracking Philippe's progress across the wire offers dizzying views of the city below; a turn of the page transforms readers' vantage point into a vertical view of the feat from street level. When police race to the top of one tower's roof, threatening arrest, Philippe moves back and forth between the towers ("As long as he stayed on the wire he was free"). Gerstein's dramatic paintings include some perspectives bound to take any reader's breath away. Truly affecting is the book's final painting of the imagined imprint of the towers, now existing "in memory"-linked by Philippe and his high wire. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 6-In 1974, a young Frenchman saw the completion of the World Trade Center towers as an irresistible invitation to stretch a cable between them and dance across it. Gorgeous oil-and-ink paintings capture the aerialist's spirited feat and breathtaking perspectives high above Manhattan harbor. Winner of the 2004 Caldecott Medal. Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Gerstein's dramatic paintings include some perspectives bound to take any reader's breath away. Truly affecting." —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Readers of all ages will return to this again and again for its history, adventure, humor, and breathtaking homage to extraordinary buildings and a remarkable man." —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"With its graceful majesty and mythic overtones, this unique and uplifting book is at once a portrait of a larger-than-life individual and a memorial to the towers and the lives associated with them." —School Library Journal (Starred Review)

Mordicai Gerstein
Mordicai Gerstein (1935-2019) was the author and illustrator of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, winner of the Caldecott Medal. Four of his books have been named New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year. As a child, Gerstein was inspired by reproductions of fine art that his mother cut out of Life magazine and by children's books from the library: I looked at Rembrandt and Superman, Matisse and Bugs Bunny, and began to make my own pictures. After attending Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, he was hired by an animated cartoon studio where he designed characters and thought up ideas for TV commercials.

Jeff Mack is the author and illustrator of many books for young readers, including Just a Story, Hush Little Polar Bear, Good News, Bad News, and Clueless McGee. He has also illustrated award winning picture books and chapter books such as Eve Bunting's Hurry! Hurry! and James Howe's Bunnicula and Friends. He lives in Western Massachusetts.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780761317913
Lexile Measure
640
Guided Reading Level
Q
Publisher
Roaring Brook Press
Publication date
September 05, 2003
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007060 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Performing Arts
JNF039010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Performing Arts | Circus
Library of Congress categories
France
Petit, Philippe
Tightrope walking
Aerialists
World Trade Center (New York, N.Y.)
Caldecott Medal
Winner 2004 - 2004
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
Winner 2004 - 2004
Carnegie Medal
Winner 2006 - 2006
Delaware Diamonds Award
Winner 2004 - 2005

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