The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

The book that won the Caldecott Award, “The Man Who Walked Between the Towers,” was published in 2003. Gerstein wrote and illustrated more than 40 books during his career, receiving over a dozen awards. The book won the 2004 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations. 'The Man Who Walked Between the Towers' is Gerstein's most popular work, recounting the day when Philippe Petit walked, lay, knelt and danced on a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. His first, “Arnold of the Ducks,” was published in 1983. With Levy’s encouragement, he began writing his own books. It was film and drawing and theater all in one,” he wrote on his website. “From the first, I loved the picture book medium. He did, launching a long career that spanned decades. Levy, a young author at the time, had written a mystery book for children and asked Gerstein to illustrate it. He made a living painting and designing animated TV commercials and kid’s shows but all that changed in 1970, when he met author Elizabeth Levy. Gerstein had always been an artist, attending art school in his native Los Angeles and moving to New York shortly after. His wife, artist Susan Yard Harris, told the Times that he died of metastatic esophageal cancer.

He died on September 24 at his home in Westhampton, Massachusetts, the New York Times reported. Gerstein was the master behind such books like “The Night World,” “The Sleeping Gypsy,” and “The Man Who Walked Between the Towers,” which won him the Caldecott Award for distinguished American children’s picture books in 2004. Mordicai Gerstein, a beloved children’s book author and illustrator, has died at the age of 83.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein