Module 2: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

Summary. A tightrope walker / street performer is enchanted by the construction of enormous twin towers in New York City, the World Trade Center towers. He's fascinated by their height, and envisions walking on a rope between them. Because this activity isn't exactly legal, he hatches a plan to sneak into the buildings at night. With help from several friends, he manages to overcome several near catastrophes and mount his tightwire. His hour-long performance in the early morning hours over the streets of New York is a tribute to his perseverence and dedication to his craft.

Citation. Gerstein, Mordicai. The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. Brookfield, CT: Roaring Book Press. 2003. Print.

My Impressions. This historical account is not just a memorial for the World Trade Center and those who died there. It is an uplifting tribute to the indomitable spirit of dreamers the world over. The landscapes are well-rendered, from many dizzying perspectives above and below the towers. My favorite illustration is Phillippe climbing fifteen floors down the face of the enormous tower at night to retrieve the guide arrow after it falls. Gerstein has a wonderful way of making the viewer feel right IN the pictures: we feel the wind and rain, we sense the triumph of Phillippe's dance on the wire in the sky. All in all, a worthwhile read for younger and older readers alike.

Library Uses. This book could be a discussion starter for older elementary students on any of a number of topics, including ethics (should Petit have concocted this trick? were the police justified?) or art (how many different perspective points does Gerstein use in this book? which are most effective?). It could also be an inspirational book for a program presenting basic acrobatics. Can you walk on a rope? Do a somersault? Stand on one foot?

Awards. 2004 Caldecott Medal. Boston Globe/HornBook award 2004.

Reviews. (Booklist) PreS-Gr. 3. 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 Copyright 2003 Booklist November 01, 2003.

(Publisher Weekly) 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 Reed Business Information. September 01, 2003.

(School Library Journal, starred review) 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 Reed Business Information. October 01, 2004