2003 Roaring Brook Press
36 pgs, two of which are pullout two pages wide
Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 13, 830 ratings
My rating: 4
Endpapers: Solid cream
1st line/s: "Once there were two towers side by side. They were each a quarter of a mile high; one thousand three hundred and forty feet. The tallest buildings in New York City."
My comments: I've never felt particularly drawn to this book, and have perhaps skimmed it a couple of times, but I've read it today giving it plenty of attention, and I'm glad I did. A TRUE STORY! There's a bittersweet feeling at the end of the book, where it mentions that the towers are no longer there. Bittersweet because Philippe Petit's joy while traversing the 7/8-inch wire between the towers was palpable, and the picture of those two towers standing proudly in the New York City skyline will forever be etched in our brains. The book ends: "But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there. And part of that memory is the joyful morning, August 7, 1974, when Philippe Petit walked between them in the air." This was a very satisfying story, the pictures were wonderful, and the marriage of story and pictures certainly deserve the Caldecott Medal far more than others I've seen.
Goodreads: From a highly-respected picture book author/illustrator comes a lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers.
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