Mirette on the High Wire by Emily McCully
From Amazon.com: 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.
Author & illustrator
Author: Emily McCully
The author is also the illustrator.
Topics from the book:
Visit each topic page for downloads, lessons, etc. specific to that topic.
Units, Activities, and Resources for Mirette on the High Wire
Delightful Learning: Rowing Mirette on the High Wire
Mirette & Bellini Cross Niagara Falls lapbook
High Wire Act
From Beacon Lesson Plan Library. Students produce a high wire time line with yarn and index cards to sequence events and then write an expository paragraph.
Why are we featuring this book?
Mirette on the High Wire is a book featured in Five in a Row, a literature-based unit study curriculum. Many families use FIAR for all but the grammar/reading and math, and others use it in conjunction with other resources. Above is information about the author and illustrator, story summaries, and links to lesson plans and websites that are great go-alongs for Mirette on the High Wire. Please note that these resources are meant to complement, not replace, the Five in a Row units. The Five in a Row volumes are inexpensive and well worth the investment.