King of the Tightrope
When the Great Blondin Ruled Niagara
by Donna Janell Bowman
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Pub Date Oct 01 2019 | Archive Date Aug 27 2019
Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC | Peachtree
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Description
At the age of four, Jean-Francois Gravelet walked across his first balance beam. Later, he took to the tightrope like a spider to its web and climbed toward stardom. Though his feats became more and more marvelous, he grew bored. That is, until he visited Niagara Falls and imagined doing something that no one else had ever accomplished.
To cross the raging river, the Great Blondin needed determination, an understanding of engineering, and a belief that what he could imagine, he could accomplish. And in 1859, with all of his preparation complete, Blondin stepped out onto the most dangerous tightrope walk he'd ever faced.
Award-winning nonfiction author Donna Janell Bowman uses her trademark in-depth research to give readers a close look at the hard work and meticulous mathematic and scientific planning it took to plan and execute and astonish feat. Adam Gustavson's detailed illustrations turn this book into an experience that will astound and inspire. This fascinating, STEAM-filled story will have readers holding their breath!
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781561459377 |
| PRICE | $17.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Laura T, Reviewer
This is an amazing picture book about an amazing tighrope walker who was known as the Great Blondin.
Blondin walked across the Niagara falls, not just once, but as many of 15 times.
But, not only did he do the walk, he had to set up the rope to do the walk. He had to calculate how much rope to use, and how taunt to make it.
So, the amazing thing about this picture book is that it also explains how he figured it all out, how he prepared for this feat.
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5182" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/king-of-the-typeoope.png" alt="" />
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5181" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/king-of-the-tiperope.png" alt="" />
Bloudin was French, and the author throws in little French words here and there in context.
Great book, if to only teach children how much is involved in planning such a stunt.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book avialble for an honest review.
La C, Reviewer
This is the sort of non-fiction picture book I really like. I don't even have to have heard of the person the book is about; in fact, if I haven't heard of them, it's even better because I've learned something I didn't know before.
The Great Blondin was a French tightrope walker who crossed Niagara Falls in 1859. This story talks about his life, his quest to always do more, and the eventual setup and execution of his international stunt. Included at the end are more biographical facts and a timeline. The illustrations are great and work really well to complement the text (which is interesting enough on its own).
When people said the stunt couldn't be done, Blondin ignored them and just went about his work. There's a lot of physics involved in setting up such a stunt. The public perhaps doesn't appreciate how much goes on behind the scenes when they just show up to watch the performer succeed (or fail).
I really enjoyed this one, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting picture-book biography.
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