Mirette on the High Wire (1992)

Caldecott winner, 1993
a young girl in Paris finds herself enamored with the great wire-walker Bellini when he stays at her mother's boarding house. Agreeing to train her, Mirette learns to wire walk. In return, Mirette teaches Bellini to overcome his fears.

This is the story of a little girl Mirette who dreams of becoming a tight rope walker. She lives in Paris with her mother who runs a boarding house. One day a man named Bellini comes to stay, and it turns out that he is a world-famous daredevil tight rope walker. Mirette teacher herself to walk the rope, and then befriends Bellini. He has retired because he is now afraid when walking the tight rope. At the end of the story he plans his return, only to freeze in fear when the time comes. Mirette comes to his aide, and walks out on the rope to meet him. The last picture in the book is of a poster advertising the show "Mirette and Bellini: Wire Walkers." It was a very cute story of following your dreams, and faces the challenges they present.

Mirette on the High Wire tells the story of a young girl whose mother runs a boarding house in Paris. Performers of all kinds come through their home, but Bellini, a quiet man with a sad face, turns out to be an incredible tight-rope walker. When he refuses to teach Mirette his trade, she decides to teach herself. Despite her repeated falls, she continues to work to be as good as Bellini. After bearing witness to her hard work, he agrees to teach her. It turns out he has quite a bit to learn from Mirette, as well. This book is appropriate as an independent read for 2nd-5th grade. As a read-aloud, it's appropriate for all children.
I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations were phenomenal and the story was quite good. The message was an important (if somewhat cliche) one: never give up. Possibly more importantly, is the fact that the child had something to teach the adult, as well, and was treated as an equal. ( )

When a tall, sad-faced stranger comes to live at the boarding house run by her mother in nineteenth-century Paris, young Mirette Gâteau quickly discovers that there is more to this new lodger than meets the eye. Happening upon him practicing the high-wire in the courtyard, Mirette is enchanted, and asks him to teach her. Undaunted by his refusal, she sets out to teach herself, eventually inspiring Monsieur Bellini - the "Great Bellini" himself, once the world's foremost high-wire artist, but now fallen on hard times after losing his nerve - to try to make a comeback.

An engaging tale of friendship, dreaming big, and trying again when things have gone wrong, Mirette on the Highwire was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1993, and it's not difficult to see why. Emily Arnold McCully makes excellent use of color (Mirette's blue dress really stands out, in every scene in which she appears) and light in her watercolor artwork, which ably conveys the atmosphere of a Paris neighborhood, "one hundred years ago," and captures the magic of performing on the high-wire. I don't know that it will ever make any of my "favorites" lists, but overall I found it charming, in both story and illustration. ( )

Caldecott Winner 1993

Cute concept. ( )