The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

M2D1

Sam Romano

Read a Caldecott Award or Honor book and introduce it to us. Using language and evaluation criteria from the readings and handouts, give us your evaluation of the book. What stands out? What makes this book worthy of a Caldecott, or do you wonder why in the world this book won? What is your reaction to the story? Do you feel any connection to it? Does it evoke any emotion in you?

My choice of Caldecott Award book is The Man Who Walked Between The Towers, a 2003 picture book written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. I remember reading this book as a child, and I love how epic and large-scale it is. The beautiful, expansive pictures alone make me think this book was deserving of the award, but the triumphant, true story also made this story worthy of the Caldecott. Using the criteria established in our language and evaluation handout, there were several key elements of this text that stood out to me.

Text §

The plot documents Philippe as a man who loves to entertain and dance, and opens with scenes of him hoping to someday do something larger than casual street performances. The text is broken into small, non-rhyming stanzas that never read longer than six lines per page. This helps keep the text accessible for children, while also mirroring Philippe’s carefree attitude and demeanor. The story never veers into predictable territory (another benefit of the non-rhythmic line structure); when Philippe is caught by the police at the end, his sentence is to perform for children in the park rather than to go to jail. The visual accompaniments are detailed enough that the story could be told through illustration alone, but having the text provides some background to Philippe and highlights his growth from wishful street performer to daring stuntman.

Illustrations §

This picture book has awe-inspiring illustrations of New York City that can inspire and encourage students to believe they are capable of superhuman feats of bravery. Looking at the visual style of the book, plenty of blue and cool-toned hues are used to highlight Philippe’s temperament. As noted in our lecture:

In Molly Bang's When Sophie Get's Angry, you can see how Bang uses color -- hot reds and oranges, as well as jagged angry edges, and images that evoke the feeling of anger as Sophie loses her temper. As Sophie calms down, the colors turn to cooler blues and whites, quiet and peaceful. (Horning 99)

As Philippe lays and walks along the rope, he is calm and tranquil- even with the angry police presence atop the two buildings. The pictures accompany the narrative, with many images spanning across two pages in order to fully show the scope of the line above New York City.

Many of the illustrations also seem to bend along with the pages; the boroughs beneath Philippe do not appear flat or rigid and their distorted appearance helps to emphasize that Philippe is high enough above the ground that the real world below no longer looks the same.

                       

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

Horning, Kathleen T. From Cover to Cover (revised edition): Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books. Collins, 2010. ISBN-10: 0060777575 or ISBN-13: 978-0060777579 (Prices vary from $10-$15.)