Gerstein, Mordicai << GUR steen, MAWR duh ky >> (1935-2019), was an American author and illustrator of children’s books. Gerstein received the 2004 Caldecott Medal for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2003). The Caldecott Medal is an annual award given for the best picture book by an American. The Man Who Walked Between the Towers tells about a French performer named Philippe Petit, who walked a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City in 1974. The towers were destroyed by terrorists in 2001.
Gerstein began his children’s literature career as an illustrator. As an artist, Gerstein worked in many media, including water color, oil, and pen and ink. Critics have praised his illustrations for their storytelling power, detail, and sense of movement.
Gerstein illustrated two popular series of mystery stories written by the children’s author Elizabeth Levy. The first series, “Something Queer Is Going On,” follows the adventures of two close friends named Gwen and Jill. The series began with Something Queer Is Going On (1973), which was also Gerstein’s first book as an illustrator. The second series, the Fletcher mystery series, centers on Jill’s pet dog, Fletcher, who solves humorous mysteries in stories for beginning readers. A Hare-Raising Tail (2002) launched the series.
Gerstein started writing his own stories with Arnold of the Ducks (1983), a fantasy about a boy raised with ducks. He also wrote the fantasy novel The Old Country (2005). Gerstein wrote and illustrated several books with Biblical themes, including The Shadow of a Flying Bird: A Legend of the Kurdistani Jews (1994), The Legend of Jonah and the Two Great Fish (1997), Noah and the Great Flood (1999), Queen Esther the Morning Star: The Story of Purim (2000), and The White Ram: A Story of Abraham and Isaac (2006). Gerstein wrote and illustrated What Charlie Heard (2002), a biography of the American composer Charles Ives.
Gerstein’s other books as an author and illustrator include The Room (1984); The Mountains of Tibet (1987); The Story of May (1993); The Wild Boy (1998); The Absolutely Awful Alphabet (1999); Leaving the Nest (2007); A Book (2009); How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers: A Simple but Brilliant Plan in 24 Easy Steps and The First Drawing (both 2013); The Night World (2015); and The Boy and the Whale (2017). His book The Sleeping Gypsy (2016) was inspired by the painting of the same name by the French artist Henri Rousseau.
Gerstein illustrated How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird (2007), originally written in 1971 by the French poet Jacques Prévert. He also wrote and illustrated humorous books about Greek mythology, starting with I Am Pan! (2016).
Gerstein was born on Nov. 24, 1935, in Los Angeles. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts) in Los Angeles from 1953 to 1956. He worked as a writer, director, and producer of animated films for several years before devoting himself to children’s literature. Gerstein died on Sept. 24, 2019.
