Everest: The Remarkable Story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay

by Alexandra Stewart, Joe Todd-Stanton (Illustrator), Ranulph Fiennes (Foreword by)

Overview

In the late morning of May 29, 1953, the sun was shining brightly and a gentle breeze was blowing on the highest elevation of the world—and two men were there to witness it for the first time ever. Their names were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, and they had ascended Everest. This is the breathtaking story of how two very different, yet equally determined, men battled frost-biting temperatures, tumbling ice rocks, powerful winds, and death-defying ridges to reach the top of the world's highest mountain.

Combining fresh and contemporary illustrations by Joe Todd-Stanton with Alexandra Stewart's captivating writing, this unique narrative tells the story of how Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made their mark on the world from birth right up to their final days and the impact they've had on Nepal today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547601608
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/11/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
Lexile:	1060L (what's this?)
File size:	41 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Alexandra Stewart studied Modern History at Oxford University before training to be a journalist. After working as a reporter on a number of newspapers, she worked as a press officer for the Metropolitan Police and, later, Central Government. She subsequently worked as a speechwriter. Alex lives in London, UK with her husband and two children.

Joe Todd-Stanton is the author and illustrator of The Secret of Black Rock (Flying Eye). He is the winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2018 and has been long listed for the 2018 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. He lives in England.

www.joetoddstanton.com

Editorial Reviews

Exciting and engaging…an appealing selection for researchers and adventure enthusiasts alike.” —Booklist

“Accessible and heightened by lively language … An interesting and beautiful work.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

01/01/2020

Gr 5–8—Climbers and adventure seekers have been unable to resist the allure of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. Everest, equal to the height of 20 stacked Empire State Buildings, had posed a challenge to numerous European expeditions. Many treks resulted in failure and death. Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper, and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali Indian Sherpa and yak herder, successfully climbed the mountain in 1952 with the aid of hundreds of others. Using colorful and informative illustrations, the narrative relays the life stories of both men. They were brought together by their obsession to conquer the summit of Everest. Stories of previous attempts to reach the top of the mountain are also shown; reasons for their failure are explained. The political and social changes that occurred after World War II made scaling the mountain more manageable and aided technical advances in equipment and planning. Information about the expedition and Everest is accessible and heightened by lively language. Readers will gain an understanding of the great team effort behind the accomplishment. Hillary is usually hailed as the conqueror of Everest, but Stewart gives well-deserved credit to Norgay and the lesser-known mountaineers or climbers who have been forgotten. VERDICT An interesting and beautiful work giving credit to both Hillary and Norgay for the great feat of being the first to ascend Mount Everest.—Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, formerly at Trinity-Pawling School, NY

School Library Journal

2019-09-29
This is the story of how Edmund Hillary, a white New Zealand beekeeper, and Tenzing Norgay, a Tibetan yak herder, became the first two men in recorded history to reach the top of Mount Everest.

In addition to presenting the childhoods of these two men and their mutual obsession with summiting the highest mountain in the world, the book traces the history of European expeditions to Everest, the triumphant climb itself, and the effects the victory had on Hillary's and Norgay's adult lives. Throughout, Stewart emphasizes that reaching the top was a group effort involving many more men than are usually credited. The text is accompanied by Todd-Stanton's dazzling illustrations that subtly and effectively incorporate relevant facts. Unfortunately, despite its engaging tone and Norgay's prominent billing, the book's historical perspective is distinctly colonial. The narrative spends considerably more time on Hillary's history than on Norgay's, and it skims over major world events that would have affected the geopolitics of the climb. It makes only passing mention of South Asian independence struggles and provides no analysis as to why, after the expedition, Hillary was knighted and Norgay was not. Furthermore, the text does not acknowledge the fact that the expedition was limited entirely to men even though women may have had the skills to accompany the party: Indeed, readers learn that Norgay married a Sherpa woman, whose absence from expeditions to Everest before her untimely death goes unexplained.

This well-illustrated text is undermined by its unwillingness to engage with colonial history or systemic sexism. (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews