The Man Who Walked Between The Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

Bibliographic Information:

Gerstein, Mordicai (2003). The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. Brookfield: Roaring Brook Press

Grade Level Appropriateness:
K- 4th

Credibility of the Author:
Mordicai Gerstein is an author and illustrator. He has won many awards for not only his book, but also for his contributions to films also. Among such awards are the Caldecott, Parent’s Choice Award, and ALA notable children’s book.

Awards:
Caldecott Award Winner 2004
Boston Glove – Hornboook Award winner 2004

Summary of the Book:
This book is about Philippe Petit walking a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center. Philippe was a performer in the parks and in his hometown of Paris. He loved to juggle and walk on a tight rope. While performing in a park in New York City one day, he decided that he wanted to walk between the two towers.
One night, Philippe and his friends snuck onto the job site of World Trade Center. The buildings hadn’t been completed yet. That night, Philippe and his friends took wire up to the roof of the two buildings. They secured the wire on both buildings. The next morning, August 7, 1974, Philippe took his walk across the wire between the two buildings. He danced and performed on the wire.

National Standards it Relates to:
Social Studies
III. People, Places, and Environments

Illustrations:
The illustrations were drawings done by the author. The illustrations were ink and oil paintings. The author used fold out pages to show the scale of just how high the buildings were and how far he had to walk.

Access Features:
The best access feature in this book is its use of illustrations. The fold out pages provide a sense of depth to the book that gives the reader a visual picture of how tall the buildings were and the distance between the buildings.

How I would Use the Book in My Classroom:
I think this would be a good book to use while talking about the events of September 11th.

Response:
I thought this book was a very good book. It sheds a brighter light on the World Trade Center. Today when people talk about the World Trade Center, all they think about is the tragedy of the events of September 11th. Even though that is a very important event in our nation’s history, this provides a connection for younger children who can’t really grasp the concept of all of the events of September 11th.

Related Text:
To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers by Philippe Petit.