Author and Illustrator Mordecai Gerstein is a favorite in our house. His winning formula? Striking artwork, lyrical prose, and true stories!
“The Man Who Walked Between the Towers” is a creative re-telling of Philippe Petit’s unauthorized walk on a wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Gerstein is a master writer, carefully choosing his words to maximize their potency. Awarded a Caldecott Medal in 2004, the dramatic narrative is sure to thrill the minds and imaginations of little ones.
WIN IT! One winner will receive a copy of “The Man Who Walked Between the Towers” ($6.99) by Mordecai Gerstein! To enter, leave any topic-related comment on this post prior to Sunday, August 7 at 11:59 p.m. All generic comments like “Enter me!” or “Love it” will be disqualified. Winner must provide a US mailing address.
* Thanks to Macmillan for providing two books – one for review and one for this giveaway.
As a teacher, 9/11 can be quite tricky and traumatic to teach. Instead I expose children to the life of Philip Petit through documentaries, pictures, and video. I integrate science, history and P.E. For science, we build shorter versions of the twin towers, tie a high wire rope, and send snails across the wire. We study the anatomy of the snail. For P.E., we do all the tricks Phillip Petit did on a low beam: walking across, turning, lying down, etc. A book of Philip Petit would integrate literature into a very intriguing unit. 9/11 is my birthday. The book is a way to celebrate the towers that used to be.
I would love to add this to my granddaughter’s growing collection of books.
Thanks for the opportunity.
I’d like this for Samantha to enjoy
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. ~Charles W. Eliot
I am so thankful that my children love to read.
I’ve made it a point to start checking out your recommendations on children’s books from the library of late. Let me just say, you make great suggestions for children’s literature! I’m adding this M. Gerstein book to the list. For one, I KNOW the kiddos will enjoy it, but it will have a special meaning for me living in the NY/NJ area and still missing those structures from the NYC skyline.
Thank you for the compliment, Eileen. I am very selective about the books that I feature here – only the very best!
This is a great work for young people to read before viewing the film “Man On Wire”!
The illustrations are awesome-thank you for a chance
I love Mordicai Gerstien! We’d be thrilled to own this one – thanks for the chance!
zenzart at hotmail dot com
I have been thinking about adding this book to our elementary school collection. I have been trying to fill in the gaps and collect all of the Newbury and Caldecott award winners and honor books. This looks like a particularly good add, particularly in the wake of 9/11.
there’s a documentary on this guy at my library that i want my kids to see. the book would be cool too
this brings back memories from 9-11 and how this story wouldn’t be possible to replicate today. kind of bone chilling when you think about it.
My kids love this book. We’ve read it a number of times. The kids learned a bit more about the WTC and have some historical perspective when they see the 9-11 stories, clips.
I love finding new books to read to my daughter. I can’t help but wonder how this being about the World Trade Center will affect my reading of it. It will be some time before my daughter will understand that it was a real place, much less what happened there.
The documentary was great! Isn’t it amazing that one person could actually do this…
Would love to read this to the kids!
Also, I usually read you via rss feed but wanted to come say Hi! I love your new blog look!
The documentary was amazing, just an incredible story.
I haven’t read this book, however I LOVED the documentary of it. I’ll definitely have to check it out from the library…unless I should win my very own copy that is. :)
I’m familiar with the story, itself, but had no idea that a children’s book had been written about it. Sounds great! Thanks for bringing it to our attention!
I saw the movie based on his life – it was very good, and this book looks super interesting
We are looking to build a little library for our little one due to arrive in January. Would love to add to it!
Oooo! I’ve never seen these books, but now I must! I just checked my library catalog & they don’t have any of his books. Boo! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Can you request that the library order copies? I highly recommend this book (Also – “What Charlie Heard” by the same author).
PINK ME PLEASE
Those illustrations are gorgeous. I’m building up our library for DD (3 months old) & love to have books that are both well written & beautifully illustrated.
The kids and I really enjoy these true stories that are told and illustrated so well!
I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THIS TO READ TO MY GRANDSON
Oh I love the illustration in that book! I bet it is a good read too!
I loved the documentary about him. (Man on Wire is the title I think.) It’d be awesome to have a kid’s version of the story.
my oldest would be fascinated as we’ve been talking about the biggest things lately!
We checked out three Mordecai Gerstein books from the library after your review of “What Charlie Heard.” That was my kid’s favorite of the three, but I preferred “Sparrow Jack.” We haven’t read this one about the tight-rope walker, but I’m sure we’d love it!
I have been wanting to get this book ever since I heard about it. My children would adore listening to me read it at night before bedtime, we always read a book together.
meek_heidi@yahoo DOT com
I have really started enjoying reading non-fiction and reality-based books to my 2-year old – kind of the early intro to homeschooling ;-)