This book tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Eiffel who are a couple who live in Paris. One day Mrs. Eiffel begins to feel very unwell and the doctors say that she needs fresh air. Mr. Eiffel decides that he will do what it takes to make his wife feel better, he builds the Eiffel tower so that his wife can get a lot of fresh air.

Everyone knows the Eiffel Tower, yet no one knows the love story that led to its construction. Author Alice Brière-Haquet and illustrator Csil have pooled their creative talents to tell this touching story about overcoming hardship with clever invention fueled by love. Mr. and Mrs. Eiffel are a happy couple enjoying living in the most romantic city in the world, Paris. Until one day, Mrs. Eiffel begins to feel desperately unwell. The experts are unanimous: the only thing that can save her is fresh air. Her husband, a bright engineer, decides he will take matters into his own hands and build a tower that will reach the clouds in an attempt to restore her health.

Csil's poetically minimal illustrations in black, white, and pink are incredibly evocative, and Alice Brière-Haquet's words are a delight to read aloud.

This is such a beautiful work that includes verse and simple yet striking artwork to tell the love story behind the building of the Eiffel Tower. This story celebrates Paris as the city of romance as well as the accomplishment of Eiffel as an act of love. This puts a new spin on the common phrase, "labor of love."

This book would be a great accompaniment to a social studies/language arts lesson/unit in the lower level elementary grades that focusses on Western European familiarity. ( )

I liked this book for 2 reasons. The first reason is the plot. The book is suspenseful. We begin reading a love story between an engineer and his wife. Everything is fine and they are happy and love to travel until one day she falls ill. Doctors cannot figure out what is wrong. The book then has pages of Cathy, the wife, being sick and thinking she is going to die while her husband creates an unknown object. This builds up interest and gets the reader to guess what will happen. My second reason for liking this book is the writing. The book is like one long poem. Each line flows easily into the next. It is almost as if you don’t even have to take a breath and the reader can just continue on forever like the love of this couple. ( )