Summary: In 1974, Philippe Petit tightroped between the World Trade Center, the twin towers. A Caldecott medal book, tells the story how Petit accomplished this daring feat.
Citation: Gerstein, M., Tuosto, F., & Roaring Brook Press. (2003).The man who walked between the towers. Brookfield, Conn: Roaring Brook Press.
Impression: This is a unique approach to looking at the World Trade Center post 9/11. The story gives a new light to how the towers were once viewed and the many stories that go with them. Through the vivid images of Tuosto's illustrations, the World Trade Center becomes something more than our memory of 9/11.
Impression: This is a unique approach to looking at the World Trade Center post 9/11. The story gives a new light to how the towers were once viewed and the many stories that go with them. Through the vivid images of Tuosto's illustrations, the World Trade Center becomes something more than our memory of 9/11.
Reviews:
Hazel Rochman (Booklist)
Here's a joyful true story of the World Trade Center from a time of innocence before 9/11. In 1974 French trapeze artist Philippe Petit walked a tightrope suspended between the towers before they were completed. Gerstein's simple words and dramatic ink-and-oil paintings capture the exhilarating feats, the mischief, and the daring of the astonishing young acrobat. He knew his plan was illegal, so he dressed as a construction worker, and, with the help of friends, lugged a reel of cable up the steps during the night and linked the buildings in the sky. As dawn broke, he stepped out on the wire and performed tricks above the city. Gerstein uses varied perspectives to tell the story--from the close-up jacket picture of one foot on the rope to the fold-out of Petit high above the traffic, swaying in the wind. Then there's a quiet view of the city skyline now, empty of the towers, and an astonishing image of the tiny figure high on the wire between the ghostly buildings we remember.
Hazel Rochman (Booklist)
Here's a joyful true story of the World Trade Center from a time of innocence before 9/11. In 1974 French trapeze artist Philippe Petit walked a tightrope suspended between the towers before they were completed. Gerstein's simple words and dramatic ink-and-oil paintings capture the exhilarating feats, the mischief, and the daring of the astonishing young acrobat. He knew his plan was illegal, so he dressed as a construction worker, and, with the help of friends, lugged a reel of cable up the steps during the night and linked the buildings in the sky. As dawn broke, he stepped out on the wire and performed tricks above the city. Gerstein uses varied perspectives to tell the story--from the close-up jacket picture of one foot on the rope to the fold-out of Petit high above the traffic, swaying in the wind. Then there's a quiet view of the city skyline now, empty of the towers, and an astonishing image of the tiny figure high on the wire between the ghostly buildings we remember.
Rochman, H. (2003, November 1). [Review of the book The man who walked between the towers, by M. Gerstein & F. Tuosto]. Booklist, 100(5).
Stacey King (Children's Literature)
This eloquently written and craftily illustrated book details for children the true story of famed French aerialist Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. In the bulk of the book, Gerstein captures the awe-striking beauty of the event with lyrical words and simple but dramatic oil-and-pen illustrations. The somewhat awkward mention in the last two pages of the events of September 11, 2001, though, may be a bit abrupt and may confuse children about the relationship between it and the tightrope feat. In those pages, however, Gerstein manages to both address the issue that could not very well be left out of a story about the twin towers and give children a glimpse of the shock and dismay that the world felt at their fall.
King, S. [Review of the book The man who walked between the towers, by
M. Gerstein & F. Tuosto]. Children's Literature. Retrieved from http://www.childrenslit.com.
Uses: Gerstein's book can be used as a read and discussion piece for children around the 9/11 memorial each year. As this book talks about the World Trade Center before 9/11 the librarian can facilitate a discussion about what the World Trade Center towers were about and maybe add some other unique stories about the buildings.
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