From: Beth Wright <bethlibrarian>
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 12:35:44 -0800 (PST)

I can pinpoint the moment I ?fell? for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers: the two page spread where readers first see Petit?s entire body out on the tightrope. This illustration has no words and a quiet palette of blue river and sky, creating a pause in which to absorb the scene. Petit?s body is shown far to the right margin and only from behind; the picture is much less about him, and much more about the incredible expanse of space beneath the wire. In the natural, left-to-right motion of viewing the picture, readers are drawn out onto the cable with Petit. Only then do we notice we are so high up, we can see how the earth is curving.

My thanks to Mordecai Gerstein for taking us out onto the wire, and to the Caldecott committee for recognizing his achievement.

Beth Wright Youth Services Librarian Fletcher Free Library Burlington, Vermont



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Received on Thu 29 Jan 2004 02:35:44 PM CST