The Man Who Walked Between The Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein, is another Caldecott winner my kids love. It was a gift they received this summer and it quickly captured everyone’s attention at our house. The story is so amazing it’s hard to believe, but it’s based on a true event. It chronicles Philippe Petit’s tight rope walk between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. I get butterflies in my stomach every time I read it because I’m so worried for Philippe. : )
September 11th is coming this Saturday — this is a good book to use if you wanted to talk to your kids about the towers falling and what an impact their absence has had on New York and the entire country.
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This is such interesting timing – I’m just now reading “Let the Great World Spin”, which won the 2009 National Book Award. It, too, is about a tightrope walker in NYC. I’ll be sure to check out this kids version – sounds (and looks) fantastic!
I love this book! My 2 year old asks to read it all of the time. I also watched a really interesting documentary on Pierre and his walk acoss the tower on Netflix!
Man on Wire, a documentary about this very event, is very interesting and well made. You might check it out. (I might remember some post tightrope walking partying that you might not want your kids to see, so I’d preview it first.) Still really interesting and well made.
We LOVE this book – the story, the art, everything.
My four year old enjoys reading this book. The only difficult part, the explanation that goes along with it every time we read it. Man on a Wire was pretty fascinating too.
we loooooved the documentary. really interesting, and even though i knew how it ended i was on pins and needles. there is a post party you’ll need to fast forward, but other than that it’s great. i just saw this book at borders and mean to get it.
I second (or fifth) the documentary too! Wouldn’t watch it with my kids necessarily, but would be great as a stay-at-home date night movie with your husby.
*Eva
i saw this movie! so cool.
Oh! I just saw this documentary on netflix. It’s super interesting. Book looks great!
One more vote for the doc. I picked this book up a couple years ago at the library and loved it. Great illustrations.
I came across this book last spring while on a trip to NYC. I thought it was a perfect souvenir to bring home for my little guy…so I did. It’s a fabulous book!
Loved watching the movie with my kids but there is a crazy riske’ scene right out of nowhere at the end. Watch out!
A great book (& he’s my neighbor).
The story of Philippe Petit’s is a favorite in our family. In fact, we read the Big Kids version while I was in labor with my second child. It is so inspiring to see how he was able to make his dreams come true. All it takes is some planning and a willingness to step into the unknown.
My son Adrian (9) picked this book for a report last year. Adrian was truly inspired by it. He worked really hard on creating the towers with a tightrope in between. It was one of his favorite projects / books and we still have the display in his room.
Me and my boys really love this book.
I cried reading about this book, I suppose because I’ve just moved the family away from NYC, where I was living on 9/11. Our eldest is 5 and we haven’t explained the whole tragedy to him yet. Maybe this book would be a good way to do it. Thanks.
i also read the grown-up novel “let the great world spin”by colum mccann and it was wonderfully written. based on the context of phillippe petit’s walk, but the story followed several fictional characters in the city who witnessed the walk. a great read! i’ll be sure to check out the childrens’ book too. :)
We brought this book home from the library last week and I found it so touching! I loved everhythign about it. Interesting to read it with my daughter who knows nothing of the towers… I had remembered it from yoru blog. I think I need a copy on our own bookshelf!