Stacey King (Children's Literature)
This eloquently written and craftily illustrated book details for children the true story of famed French aerialist Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. In the bulk of the book, Gerstein captures the awe-striking beauty of the event with lyrical words and simple but dramatic oil-and-pen illustrations. The somewhat awkward mention in the last two pages of the events of September 11, 2001, though, may be a bit abrupt and may confuse children about the relationship between it and the tightrope feat. In those pages, however, Gerstein manages to both address the issue that could not very well be left out of a story about the twin towers and give children a glimpse of the shock and dismay that the world felt at their fall. 2003, Roaring Brook Press, $17.95. Ages 3 to 8.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2004)
In 1974, soon after the World Trade Center was completed, a street performer named Philippe Petit startled New Yorkers by walking, running, dancing, and even lying down on a tightrope he had managed to put up between the two towers from their roofs. Mordicai Gerstein tells this stunning true story with lyrical language and breathtaking illustrations. Shifting visual perspectives throughout the book give viewers a dizzying sense of both the height of the towers and the distance between them, while two fold-out pages dramatically extend this sense at the story's climax. The pen-and-ink lines perfectly convey a feeling of walking on air, while the oil paintings that comprise the backdrop create a sense of time and place, from the dark blue, green, and purple hues of the New York City skyline at night to the light grays, blues, and whites of the daytime sky. Every page is ingeniously composed to help tell this unusual story, and the ending is graceful both visually and verbally. Winner, CCBC Caldecott Award Discussion CCBC categories: Historical People, Places, and Events; Picture Books for School-Aged Children; Biography and Autobiography. 2003, Roaring Brook Press, 40 pages, $17.95 and $24.90. Ages 5-10.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 15))
A spare recounting of Philippe Petit's daring 1974 wire walk between the Twin Towers depicts him as a street performer who defies authority to risk his feat, is arrested, and then sentenced to perform for the children of New York. At the conclusion, on the only non-illustrated page are the stark words, "Now the towers are gone," followed by the changed skyline and finally by a skyline on which are etched the ghost-like shapes of the towers as memory of the buildings and of Petit's exploit. At the heart are the spreads of Petit on the narrow wire, so far above the city that Earth's curve is visible. Two ingenious gatefolds draw readers' eyes into the vertiginous sweep of wirewalker-sky and city below. Unparalleled use of perspective and line-architectural verticals opposed to the curve of wires and earth-underscore disequilibrium and freedom. In a story that's all about balance, the illustrations display it exquisitely in composition. Readers of all ages will return to this again and again for its history, adventure, humor, and breathtaking homage to extraordinary buildings and a remarkable man. 2003, Roaring Brook/Millbrook, $17.95. Category: Picture book/nonfiction. Ages 5 up. Starred Review. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December 2003 (Vol. 57, No. 4))
Before the World Trade Center towers were quite complete, French acrobat and wire walker Philippe Petit had marked them for his next stunt. He had already traversed the span between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral; this was surely the next logical step. With permission out of the question, he and his friends snuck into the buildings in disguise and rigged the wire in the night, and Petit greeted the morning from a five-eighths-inch cable high above New York. Defying police attempts to talk him down, Petit walked into custody in his own sweet time, was taken to court, and was sentenced "to perform in the park for the children of the city." Although Gerstein takes no official position on the rectitude or sanity of Petit’s stunt, his line-and-watercolor pictures follow the adventure with gleeful approbation. The midnight setup is an exciting, mysterious antic in deepest blues and teals, the early morning stroll a stomach-churning marvel viewed in foldouts that capture Petit’s perspective from on high and the crowd’s perspective from the ground. Even the black-robed judge beams bemusement as he delivers the sentence from his lofty bench onto the now-grounded aerialist. There are bound to be adults who will shudder at the thought of celebrating with a picture-book audience an illegal, dangerous accomplishment, but Gerstein recognizes and taps into that pervasive love/hate regard for outlaws and daredevils and bad boys that has been observed to run through American culture. Any collection that includes Jesse James, Harry Houdini, and the Montgolfier brothers had better make room for Philippe Petit as well. Review Code: R* -- Denotes books of special distinction. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, Roaring Brook, 36p, $24.90 and $17.95. Ages 5-9 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
Is this another September 11 book? No--and yes. In 1974, Philippe Petit, the French street performer and high-wire walker, couldn't resist the temptation to dance between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Gerstein pulls the reader into the story with a conversational style extended by playful pen and paint illustrations. Like Petit, Gerstein conceals much careful planning behind an obvious enjoyment of his subject. Category: Nonfiction-The Arts. 2003, Roaring Brook, 40pp, $17.95, $24.90. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.

Cherry Shults (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 16, No. 4))
In 1974, as the World Trade Center was being completed, a young French aerialist, Philippe Petit, threw a tightrope between the two towers and spent almost an hour walking, dancing, and performing tricks a quarter of a mile in the sky. Petit’s high wire walk has remained part of the history of New York City and of the World Trade Center. THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS captures the poetry and magic of his feat with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely ink and oil paintings that present the detail, the daring, and--in two dramatic foldout spreads--the vertiginous drama of Petit’s feat. Just as the massive towers of the World Trade Center remain in memory, so does the image of a young man walking in the air between them. The question is, what happened to Petit after his daring event? I recommend the book as a great history story of New York and the World Trade Center. Nonfiction (791.3). Grades 3-5. 2003, Roaring Brook, Unpaged., $18.68. Ages 8 to 11.