Mirette on the High Wire

By Emily Arnold McCully

Like Hurry, although this book is fiction, it feels very realistic and historically accurate. Mirette on the High Wire takes place one hundred years ago in Paris, and the details that McCully includes in her story make the readers feel like they are actually there. McCully's attention to detail in both the text and the illustrations make the story oddly captivating - we can visualize the characters, hear the French accents of Mirette and Bellini, and even easily imagine a stereotypical French accordion playing in the background while the narrator tells this story. It's no surprise that this book won the 1993 Caldecott Medal.

The story itself teaches us to dream big and to face our fears - and that the only way to get really great at something is through practice, practice, practice! Once Mirette decides to learn how to walk on the tight rope, she never gives up. And although the Great Bellini develops his own fears, he learns that he must not give up his dream either. The story itself is unique and interesting, but the messages it sends to children are fairly universal. I think a wide variety of readers would find this book very enjoyable!