Everest The remarkable story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay

This oversize picture book is billed as a dual biography of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the men who first conquered Mount Everest, and offers insightful birth-to-death profiles plus much, much more. Credit is given to the multitude of people who made the summit possible, including more experienced mountaineers who taught the team how to climb, previous explorers who identified routes, doctors who studied the physical effects of high altitudes, and innovators who created the equipment and clothing that protected the men from the elements. The text covers the political changes that affected access to the mountain and describes the international competition to be the first nation to summit. All this is presented within accessible historical and social context, making for an exciting and engaging read. There's a fair amount of text on each page, but the oversize format allows for manageable blocks of material interspersed with minutely detailed illustrations and satisfying captions generously strewn across pages. A brief bibliography up front helps make this an appealing selection for researchers and adventure enthusiasts alike.--Kathleen McBroom Copyright 2019 Booklist

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

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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.