Since the adult version won an Academy Award last month, the buzz about Man on Wire has hit a fever pitch. Want to share it with your kids?
Scholastic has adapted the Caldecott Award-winning children's book about Philippe Petit's tight rope walk between the towers into a movie just for them.
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers . . . and More Inspiring Tales is based on a 2003 title for kids four to eight. Using Mordicai Gerstein's dramatic and richly detailed illustrations from the book, Scholastic added animation that lets the kids hop from a Petit-eye-view to the pedestrians on the street and up into the sky. Jake Gyllenhaal lends his voice, telling the tale of the long night of preparation and the day that shocked the world. Petit is almost childlike himself, lying down on his long balancing stick, dancing among the clouds and grinning all the while, giving kids a look at a dream.
It's accompanied by three more tales, including Snowflake Bentley, another Caldecott Medal-winning book adaptation that tells the story of a real life hero, the man who discovered that no two snowflakes are alike and The Pot that Juan Built, about one of Mexico's most famous potters. Each is voiced by stars with stellar voices, including Claire Danes, Sean Astin and Alfred Molina, taking kids on real-life adventures.
Borrow the books from the library, read them, then watch them in animated form - some with live action thrown in - to give your kids another look at the world of literature. Like the read-along tapes we had as kids, the focus on putting books on DVD can be a great companion piece to your regular storytime or a jumpstart to get kids interested in reading.
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers . . . and More Inspiring Tales has stories for kids at any age - even big kids who would give anything for one day as Petit, who knew as long as he stayed on the wire "he was free."
Image: Amazon
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