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.

In France, a mysterious stranger arrives at the boardinghouse of a widow. Soon, her daughter watches the stranger walk across high wires. She wants to learn how to do this amazing feat. This man consistently walks on high wires. Mirette wants very much to learn from the boarder. Soon she discovers his name is Bellini, a retired high-wire walker, looking for a rest.

In fact, he walked across Niagara Falls on a thousand-foot wire in ten minutes. In addition, he crossed the Alps with baskets tied to his feet. He has a history of daring feats, and Mirette wants to learn more about him. ( )

Mirette chases after her aspirations to walk on the high-wire despite being a young child and is taught by a famed high-wire walker named Bellini. This story can be used for grades kinder- 3rd grade to discuss perseverance and to chase your dreams. The illustrations are also breathtaking and can be used to study art form that time period, impressionism, and the use of motion and color within art.

I loved loved loved this book as a child...though oddly it never made me want to try to walk on a wire! I guess I always was drawn to stories of children whose questions and hopes are taken seriously by adults. The gorgeous, impressionist-influenced paintings of turn of the century entertainers certainly helped keep me captivated. ( )

*Growth Area 2* This historical fiction book focuses on a little girl, Mirette who learns how to walk across a wire by the great Bellini (although she doesn't know that he is famous until later). It is based in Paris and it goes through Mirette working hard to learn how to walk across the wire. She wakes up early and dedicates a lot of time into learning. She loves the wire and wants to travel and perform with Bellini. However he shares that he is fearful and is scared to get back on the wire. One night he returns to the wire in front of a big crowd and Mirette, seeing he was nervous got on the wire and walked with him. The crowd loved them. It was fun to read about a story where a little girl had to be brave and helped out her mentor and sort of saved the day. I think students would enjoy reading about that.