Mordicai Gerstein

Mordicai Gerstein (1935-2019) is the author and illustrator of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, winner of the Caldecott Medal, and has had many books named New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year.
Gerstein was born in Los Angeles in 1935. He remembers being inspired as a child by images of fine art, which his mother cut out of Life magazine, and by children’s books from the library: “I looked at Rembrandt and Superman, Matisse and Bugs Bunny, and began to make my own pictures.” He attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, and then got a job in an animated cartoon studio that sent him to New York, where he designed characters and thought up ideas for TV commercials. When a writer named Elizabeth Levy asked him to illustrate a humorous mystery story about two girls and a dog, his book career began, and soon he moved on to writing as well as illustrating.
The author of more than forty books, Gerstein lived in Westhampton, Massachusetts.
Caldecott Medal Winner
The Boy and the Whale
Mordicai Gerstein
Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press
In this picture book by Caldecott-winner Mordicai Gerstein, a boy and his father discover a whale tangled in their only fishing net. While the man worries about losing their net, the boy worries about the whale. When it blinks an enormous eye, he knows that he has to try to save the creature, no matter how dangerous doing so may be.
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Danger & Diamonds
A Mystery at Sea
by Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press
Phillipa has always loved Agatha Christie mysteries, but it's not until the new captain's son and some interesting guests come aboard the cruise ship where she lives (and her parents work), that...
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How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers
Mordicai Gerstein
Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press
In this simple, step-by-step instructional picture book, learn how you too can visit the moon on your bicycle! All you need is a very long garden hose, a very large slingshot, a borrowed spacesuit,...
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Parrots & Pirates
A Mystery at Sea
by Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press
It's been six months since their last adventure aboard the S.S. Excalibur and Philipa and her friend Philip (who happens to be the son of the ship's captain) are both excited to meet the...
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Applesauce Season
written by Eden Ross Lipson, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press
A taste of fall: Celebrated editor Eden Lipson and Caldecott Medal winner Mordicai Gerstein celebrate a fall family ritual in Applesauce Season, a picture book rich with the colors...
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I Am Arachne
Elizabeth Spires; Illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
Square Fish
Square Fish
Inspiring and timeless Greek and Roman tales told in first person accounts of dramatic events with art from Caldecott Medal winner, Mordicai Gerstein.
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The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
Mordicai Gerstein; Illustrated by the author
Square Fish
Square Fish
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers is the winner of the 2004 Caldecott Medal, the 2004 winner of the Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Picture Books, and the winner of the 2006 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video.
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