Mirette on the High Wire (CALDECOTT MEDAL BOOK)
A picture book in which a boardinghouse girl learns tightrope walking from a retired performer and discovers her own courage.
Work Information
On the narrow wire, the girl gains confidence one step at a time.
The book vividly follows Mirette as she moves from ordinary boardinghouse life to the larger challenge of learning to walk the wire.
Book Information
- Publisher
- G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
- Published
- 1992-10-21
- Pages
- 32 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 22.71 x 0.99 x 28.75 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780399221309
- ISBN-10
- 0399221301
- Price
- 3723 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Children's Books/Arts, Music & Photography/Performing Arts
One day, a mysterious stranger arrives at a boardinghouse of the widow Gateau- a sad-faced stranger, who keeps to himself. When the widow's daughter, Mirette, discovers him crossing the courtyard on air, she begs him to teach her how he does it. But Mirette doesn't know that the stranger was once the Great Bellini- master wire-walker. Or that Bellini has been stopped by a terrible fear. And it is she who must teach him courage once again. Emily Arnold McCully's sweeping watercolor paintings carry the reader over the rooftops of nineteenth-century Paris and into an elegant, beautiful world of acrobats, jugglers, mimes, actors, and one gallant, resourceful little girl.
Emily Arnold McCully was born in Galesburg, Illinois, and grew up "a daredevil child," always climbing trees or buildings. She made it to college intact, however, and received her B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. in art history from Columbia University. Emily McCully's artwork has been included in the International Biennale at Bratislava, and she has won a Christopher Award for Picnic , one of the many picture books that she has both written and illustrated. Writing also for adults, Ms. McCully has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts. Her book, A Craving was nominated for an American Book Award. The idea for Mirette on the High Wire began as a biography of real-life daredevil Blondin. But the author changed her mind to accomodate the tree-climbing child and risk-taking adult she was and is. copyright ? 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.
Reviews
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良い絵本
素敵な物語です。絵も好みです。
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セコハンでたまたま見つけて・・・ I happened to come across this picture book at the secondhand bookstore, and ...
一世紀前のパリを背景に描かれたイラストと物語、堪能しました。後記にもありましたが、実在の人物と作者自身を重ね合わせて描かれているからこそ話に説得力があるんでしょうね。何かに挑み努力し続ける主人公ミレッテと、失敗しても尚夢をあきらめきれない男のミラクルなエンディングマッチは感動ものです。６０歳を過ぎた今、諦めないで突き進む事の大切さと人との出逢いの妙味を改めて感じました。 I enjoyed so much of its illustrations and story in the setting of Paris one century ago. The afterward says that the story is not only based on a real-life person but it reflects the writers', which makes the story much more convincing, I guess. It has a dramatic ending in which the little protagonist Mirette and the man who once succeeded but now is afraid of failing collaborate to achive something. I myself turned over 60, and am yet encouraged at the never-give-up attitude of the little protagonist, Mirette, and how peopel you'd meet matter in your life anyhow.
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綱渡り師のプライドを感じる絵本
魅力的な絵本です。 絵も素敵で、19世紀のパリの雰囲気がよく出ています。 19世紀のパリ。ガトー夫人の経営する宿には様々な旅芸人が宿泊します。 ガトー夫人の娘Miretteは、宿泊客のひとりにひどく心を惹かれます。 彼が綱を渡る様子を見て、自分も綱を渡ることが出来たらどんなに素晴らしいだろう、と、彼に弟子入りを志願しますが断られます。 実は、彼はとても有名な綱渡り師で'Great Bellini'と呼ばれる人物なのですが、綱渡りにすっかり自信をなくしていたのです。 Miretteは、諦めず自主的に練習を始めます。 最初は綱の上に立つことさえできなかったMiretteがぐんぐん上達していくさまにBelliniも彼女の才能と努力を認めます。 BelliniとMiretteの心の交流を軸に、綱渡り師がどのように感じて綱を渡っているのかなども語られています。 見物人にとっては危険としか見えない芸にもそんな見方があるのかと読んでいてびっくりします。 The Man Who Walked Between the Towersと共に綱渡り師のプライドとその自由さを感じる絵本です。 Audibleに音源があります。 絵本にマッチした素敵な朗読です。 YL3.2 1164語
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Worth a buy
Great for kids 4-5+. Reached about courage and not giving up on your dreams
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Chegou rápido e estado perfeito.
Perfeito..e chegou antes do dia..Ótimo trabalho..Estão de parabéns.
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Enjoyable and Touching Story
This is the story of Mirette, a young Parisian girl who works hard in her mother's boarding house. One day the great Bellini appears: he is a tightrope walker and he practices on the clothesline in the enclosed space behind the boarding house. Mirette wants Bellini to teach her how to walk a tightrope, but he won't because, he says, if she learns to walk in the air, her feet will never be happy on the ground. So Mirette teaches herself enough to walk from one end of the clothesline to the other. Bellini then sees that she is serious and he teaches her more. Then an agent finds Bellini and asks him to perform a great feat in public: but Bellini confesses to Mirette that he is now afraid of the tightrope, which is why he has been hiding in her mother's boarding house. Still, he doesn't want to disappoint the young girl, and so he takes a step toward returning to life in the air. As it turns out, he cannot accomplish this without Mirette's help. A nice story about talent, ambition, fear, and extending a helping hand.
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Excellent messages - a rare example of a girl demonstrating personal leadership
This children's book is exquisitely illustrated with original, magical artwork. Having raised a young girl, I was particularly happy to see a young heroine go through a process of discovery of her passions, the courage and the diligence to pursue them, falling down and picking herself up, and mastery... against the odds. This was not only an enchanting story but an excellent metaphor for personal leadership.
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This is one of my favorite books for the interesting
This is one of my favorite books for the interesting, unique story and beautiful illustrations and the feminist message it gives that girls can do anything they put their minds to! Being a redhead myself, I know redheaded kids will appreciate the positive portrayal of a good role model.