Great Blondin

Select sources & quote sources for King of the Tightrope

Posted

What happens when there’s not enough space in a picture book for the Sources? They’re moved here, for ready access. So, here ya go, dear readers. A condensed list of the sources I accessed during my research for King of the Tightrope: When the Great Blondin Ruled Niagara, illustrated by Adam Gustavson, and published by… Read more »

Hear pronunciations for the French terms in King of the Tightrope

Posted

Hello, readers! When you open up King of the Tightrope: When the Great Blondin Ruled Niagara, you’ll notice that the story is peppered with French words and phrases. It’s fun to guess the pronunciations, but here are some audio pronunciations to help you get the readings just right. s’amuser! (have fun!) Grand-père—grandfather Fléchis—inflect or bend… Read more »

Reverse-Engineering an Engineering Process from the Past

Posted

They are short and for kids, but nonfiction picture books can require the sleuthing skills of Veronica Mars, the puzzling wizardry of Sherlock Holmes, and the science chops of Bill Nye. When I set out to write about how The Great Blondin engineered his tightrope across the Niagara Gorge in 1859, I hoped to find… Read more »