Mirette on the High Wire
Emily Arnold McCully
Putnam’s Sons

A Caldecott Award winner, Mirette on the High Wire, is richly illustrated with impressionist style watercolor paintings. It is as rewarding to marvel at the lush illustrations as it is to read about an unlikely but heartwarming friendship between a teacher and his student.

One day, a mysterious gentleman moves into the Parisian boardinghouse of the widow Gateau. When Mirette, the widow’s daughter, discovers the gentleman crossing the courtyard on a low trapeze wire, she begs him to teach her how to do it not realizing that he is the famous tightrope walker, Monsieur Bellini. He agrees to teach Mirette who is an avid and talented pupil.

Mirette wants to tour with Bellini but he refuses because he now suffers from a crippling fear of the high wire and can no longer perform. Mirette is devastated. Feeling responsible for Mirette’s broken dream, Bellini wills himself to perform. During the performance, he freezes and only recovers his will when Mirette joins him on the wire.