Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Dallas Public Library | + 796.52 J41 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Lyons Public Library | 796.52 E/K JEN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J 796.52 JENKINS | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Woodburn Public Library | 796.52 JENKINS | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
In this stunning picture book, Steve Jenkins takes us to Mount Everest - exploring its history, geography, climate, and culture. This unique book takes readers on the ultimate adventure of climbing the great mountain. Travel along and learn what to pack for such a trek and the hardships one may suffer on the way to the top. Avalanches, frostbite, frigid temperatures, wind, and limited oxygen are just a few of the dangers that make scaling this peak one of the most extreme physical challenges one can experience. To stand on the top of Mount Everest is to stand on top of the world. With informative text and exquisitely detailed cut paper illustrations, Caldecott Honor artist Steve Jenkins brings this extreme journey alive for young adventurers.
Author Notes
Steve Jenkins has written and illustrated many nonfiction picture books for young readers, including the Caldecott Honor-winning What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? His books have been called stunning, eye-popping, inventive, gorgeous, masterful, extraordinary, playful, irresistible, compelling, engaging, accessible, glorious, and informative. He lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and frequent collaborator, Robin Page, and their children.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Addressing readers as would-be Everest explorers, Jenkins's book is a compendium of historical info and practical tips, illustrated with stunning cut-paper collage, wrote PW. Ages 6-10. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary, Intermediate) Mount Everest may be imposing, but Steve Jenkins takes its measure in a strikingly executed picture book. The cut-paper collage illustrations manage to show the grandeur of the world's tallest mountain with an immediacy that few photographs can. Using textured paper and only a little bit of airbrushing, Jenkins succeeds in the difficult task of creating realistic paper collages. The book follows a logical sequence, beginning with the statistics (where it is, how tall, how it was formed, how to get there, who climbed it first) and continuing with a virtual climbing experience for the reader: "It takes a lot of special gear to climb Mount Everest. Here is some of the equipment you'll need"-a spread displaying a delicious array of impressive rig. By the time we have reached the summit on the last spread, we have gained an understanding of the thrills as well as the immense hardships involved in this climb. Jenkins doesn't avoid details of frostbite and lost fingers, or even the visible litter of used oxygen canisters and frozen bodies of climbers who succumbed to the altitude and had to be left on the mountain. On nearly every spread there is an inset or sidebar providing additional infor-mation about glaciers and avalanches, the culture of the Sherpas, why climbers need oxygen, and other facts that are of interest but would break the forward motion of the main story. Exceptional design handles these bits of text remarkably well: the insets are clearly separate from the central spread, using a different background color and smaller type, while the torn paper edges of each sidebar allow it to become integrated into the spread. In a few instances, however, the typeface threatens to become lost in the texture and color variations of its background paper. The subject matter-danger and heroism in a vast, breathtakingly beautiful setting-is inherently suited to a large, colorful picture book; the deft execution of the illustrations brings the whole package to a higher level. One of the pitfalls of using cut paper for realistic illus-trations is the disappointing lack of realism in close-ups of faces, which require fine gradations of shading and color. The subject allows Jenkins to avoid this, since the climbers are most often seen completely covered up with scarves, hats, and sungoggles. Another potential difficulty can be depicting vapor and cloud realistically, but Jenkins makes full use of thin, wispy papers and deckle edges to create puffy clouds and blowing snow plumes. The book ends with illustrated back matter: a chart of the tallest summits on each continent, a list of Mount Everest facts and records, a few websites, and a bibliography. From start to finish, Jenkins has created a breathtaking tour-de-force. lolly robinson From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A breathtaking picture-book account of a climb to the top of Mount Everest. Jenkins (Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest, 1998, etc.) documents each step of the way with vivid crushed-paper and cut-paper collages that will rivet viewers. He begins with a world map that shows the Himalayas, recounts efforts to measure the peaks, describes early expeditions, and includes the successful climbs of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953, and Rheinhold Messner in 1980. Next, Jenkins illustrates the necessary gear for modern mountain-climbing, and describes the journey itself, beginning in Kathmandu, Nepal, the 100-mile trek to the base of Mount Everest, then step-by-step, up the mountain to the summit. At each step, the striking collages extend the information of the text and capture the majesty of the mountain. Visually arresting and inspiring. (Picture book. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5. The author-artist who gave us Biggest, Strongest, Fastest (1995) and What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You (1997) turns his attention to a slightly older audience in a picture book that takes readers on an armchair tour up the tallest peak on Earth. In preparation for the trek, Jenkins presents some background on Everest (including a brief comment on the ecological nightmare tourism has caused) and on some of the people who have scaled it. There's also a double-page spread devoted to climbing equipment. Then it's up to the top, complete with descriptions of some of the things climbers may see en route and some insight into how the cold and altitude will affect their bodies. Jenkins' papercut illustrations are extraordinary--feathery light to catch the effect of fog radiating off the mountains, mottled and striated to replicate rocky plateaus, pebbled to look like ice flowers. The typeface is sometimes uncomfortably small, and words occasionally disappear into the strongly colored backgrounds, but this is still a very attractive book, with plenty of substance for curious children. (Reviewed April 1, 1999)0395942187Stephanie Zvirin
Library Journal Review
Gr 2-6-A windfall of facts about Everest and the daring mountaineers who have attempted to reach its summit. Breathtaking cut-paper collages capture the dramatic vistas and the frightening realities of high-altitude climbs. (May) (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.