18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mirette Saves the Day!, April 19, 2001
How many children's books do you know where the girl (rather than a boy or an animal) saves the day by doing something heroic? Relatively few come to my mind. As the parent of two daughters, I was delighted to find this wonderful tale of 19th century entertainment fills that bill.
Ms. McCully had originally set out to write a biography of the famous tightrope walker Blondin, when she decided to write this book instead. The Mirette character is based on her own recollections of being a brave girl.
This book contains unusually high quality illustrations, even for a Caldecott Medal Winner (as the best illustrated children's book of 1993). The style shares a great deal with Toulouse-Lautrec but is more appealing because there is more subtlety and use of soft pastel shades. You will definitely feel like you've stepped through the looking glass into a world of entertainment in 1890's Paris.
The story opens to find Mirette helping her mother keep a boardinghouse for entertainers (traveling players for the theaters and music halls) called Gateau's. "Acrobats, jugglers, actors, and mimes from as far away as Moscow and New York" stayed and ate there. What a wonderful place for a child!
Mirette, unfortunately, had the not so exciting tasks of "washing linens, chopping leeks, paring potatoes, and mopping floors." She was "a good listener, too."
One day, Bellini (a retired high-wire walker) came to stay. "I am here for a rest." Soon, he had set up his wire in the back and was practicing. He refused to teach Mirette when she asked to learn. "Once you start, your feet are never happy again on the ground." She replied, "My feet are already unhappy on the ground." While he was away sometimes she would practice. After weeks of falls and problems, she could go across the whole wire. She showed him.
He responded. "Most give up. But you kept trying. Perhaps you have talent as well."
His key advice: "Never let your eyes stray." "Think only of the wire, and of crossing to the end."
When she says she'll never fall again, he warns her not to boast.
Later an agent from Astley's Hippodrome in London comes to Gateau's and recognizes Bellini. The agent recounts some of his many feats including crossing Niagara Falls on a 1000 foot wire in 10 minutes, and cooking an omelet on a stove of live coals on the way back. He had also toasted the crowd with champagne. Bellini had crossed the Alps on another occasion. Further, he had fired a cannon from the wire over the bullring in Barcelona, and crossed a flaming wire blind-folded in Naples. Ah! Oh exciting!
There's only one problem: He has lost his "nerves of an iceberg."
Encouraged by the agent, Bellini plans a comeback. He walks out on the wire and freezes. What next?
Mirette saves the day by reaching her hands out to him, and meeting him on the wire.
The book's final page shows a poster of Mirette and Bellini saying that they are wire walkers who do "stupendous feats." A little girl looks up at the poster.
As you can see, this is quite a good story, and works in Mirette's heroism in a natural way. The character development is quite good, and the historical context is interesting. Children often wonder what people did for entertainment before television.
As a parent, you may want to make a little addition to the story that, of course, Mirette's mother joined them in traveling around to do the act. Otherwise, this story could be incorrectly construed as encouraging young girls to go traveling around with grown men.
The great lesson in this book is focus. Where would that lesson help your child? Where would it help you?
Use your focus to live your most positive dreams!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An inspiring story of determination and compassion., September 2, 2001
This review is from: Mirette on the High Wire (Paperback)
As the mother of a 6-year-old girl, IÃ*m always on the lookout for picture books with strong, intelligent and interesting female characters. This is one of the best. Mirette wants to learn to walk a tightrope. She falls over and over again, but never gives up trying, and finally becomes an expert. She is a great model of determination for young girls. But sheÃ*s more than that. The story is also about a once great tightrope walker, the man who first inspired Mirette, who has developed a fear of the wire. Mirette uses her own developing talent to help her teacher overcome his fear. The final illustration of the two of them reaching out to each other across the wire brings tears to my eyes every time. MiretteÃ*s determination, ambition, and compassion are inspiring. My daughter and I both adore this book.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Earth below her, drifting falling, August 6, 2004
This review is from: Mirette on the High Wire (Paperback)
I remember some of the grumbling that went on when "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers" won the 2004 Caldecott Award. "But there's already been a Caldecott award winning tightrope walker book", some said. " `Mirette On the High Wire' has already covered that territory!" The fact of the matter is, however, that the two books are entirely different stories. Where the more recent "The Man Who Walked" is a tale that is dedicated to the memory of the twin towers themselves, "Mirette on the High Wire" concentrates more on the nature of fear and what it takes to overcome it. A beautiful book, "Mirette" tells the tale of a girl, a man, and their newfound dependence on one another.
The book takes place in Paris, "one hundred years ago" in a small boardinghouse. The widow Gateau runs the place with her daughter Mirette and the two take in a fairly creative crew of jugglers, actors, mimes, and acrobats. One day a gentleman arrives and is given the back room where there is no view. Mirette is delighted to find that the man is a tightrope walker, and she immediately insists on learning the trade. Initially the man refuses, so Mirette begins by teaching herself. After many many mishaps she finally is able to walk the length of a clothing line. Having noted her determination, the man, named Bellini, agrees to take her on as a pupil. Soon the girl learns that Bellini was once the greatest tightrope artist in the world. He does not walk the ropes anymore because he is afraid, and this fear begins to eclipse Mirette's own abilities as well. Finally, the man decides to overcome his fear once and for all. In a spectacular staged event he strings a rope to walk, but it is only through Mirette's own intervention that he can truly take command of his abilities again.
The book pretty much appeals to any kid that's ever wished for fame and glory, no matter what fashion. In the end, it becomes clear that the two will travel together from then on, lending their partnership a kind of father/daughter feeling that is pleasant to see. The tale was initially going to be a biography of actual tightrope walker Blondin, but author/illustrator Emily Arnold McCully decided to give the book a child protagonist instead. Mirette is that rare precocious heroine that never gets on your nerves. Though spunky and determined she doesn't whine or play to the worst of the reader's emotions. She is, instead, a delightful character to follow. The story of "Mirette" is fine in and of itself, but I was really taken with the illustrations. McCully has a sense of color that makes this book particularly enjoyable to flip through. From Mirette's bright red hair and royal blue dress to the colorful characters that eat in the Gateau's boarding house, the tale is awash in life and verve. Personally, I was delighted to find Bellini a bit of a hunk as well. Say what you will of the wonderful Philippe Petit in "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers", he's no hunk. Bellini on the other hand is, not to put too fine a point on it, a hottie. And I, personally, have no problems with picture books containing handsome men. No problems at all.
Mirette's high button white shoes have become a bit of a cultural symbol for those who love picture books. Though a work of fiction, her story rings true and is a delightful read. If you're searching for books in which female characters show spunk but aren't cloying or annoying, seek out "Mirette on the High Wire" ASAP. It displays the closest humans could come to flight before the advent of the airplane. A truly wonderful tale.
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