Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Fiction: PB An independent female protagonist stars in a wonderfully exuberant picture book set in late ninteenth-century Paris. When a fearful, retired high-wire walker asks for a room at the boarding house run by Mirette's mother, Mirette stubbornly proceeds to teach herself the art despite Bellini's refusal to become her mentor. McCully achieves remarkable effects in creating interior and characters with the watercolor medium. A bravura performance. Horn Rating: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration. Reviewed by: mmb (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Inspired by the exploits of the daredevil Blondin, an exotic, suspenseful story about the affection and loyalty between teacher and protégée: Mirette learns tightrope-walking from Monsieur Bellini, a famous wirewalker who has lost his nerve and is staying in her mother's Parisian boardinghouse because he can no longer perform. For Mirette's sake, Bellini plans a comeback--a walk across a square from one high rooftop to another--but he freezes on the wire until Mirette dashes up to the opposite roof and walks out to meet him. Intense colors, strong contrasts of light and shadow, and artistes and dandies straight out of Toulouse-Lautrec convey the atmosphere of Paris in la belle époque--a real departure in style and subject matter from McCully's mouse-family adventures. (Picture book. 5-9)