The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest

By Steve Jenkins

Book Overview

Caldecott-honor winning author-illustrator Steve Jenkins takes readers the top of the world in this breathtaking picture book about climbing Mount Everest.

Take a trip to the highest peak in the whole world Travel along this one-of-a-kind adventure and learn what it takes to successfully reach the top of this daring mountain. From sidebars filled with fascinating facts like why climbers need oxygen and how to protect against avalanches and frostbite to a list of all of the essentials that a climber needs on their thrilling journey, this informative text has it all. With riveting cut-paper collage illustrations, Steve Jenkins captures the majesty of one of the most extreme physical challenges and gives readers a bird's-eye view of what it's like to stand on top of the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618196765
• ISBN13: 9780618196760
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.8" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest

Nice to find a nonfiction book that is fairly easy to read, well told story and not condescending.

Great Facts, Interesting For Young (and older) Readers

This is a neat book. My seven year old, who has been into a real Mt. Everest phase for about six months, loves it. In a few pages, this book clearly tells about climbing the earth's highest peak, provides a lot of really interesting factoids about Mt. Everest, maps the way up the mountain and displays some of the equipment high mountain climbers must carry. The reader will also learn about how mountains are formed, a bit about the Sherpas and their reverence for the mountain and many other interesting things. Both my son and I have enjoyed this very much. It is a good basic book for kids who have learned to read and are moving to more challenging subjects. That this subject is interesting as well is a plus. I couldn't decide if I liked the illustrations or not. No photos, just Eric Carle-style cut-outs (but much more realistic and finely detailed than Carle's work). The illustrations work well and are detailed, but I would have enjoyed a couple of photographs of the mountain.

A great read for kids and adults alike!

A phenomenal book that takes the reader on a trek up Mount Everest. Torn paper collage illustrations are a beautiful complement to the informative facts about Mt. Everest and mountain climbing. The book is full of fun and interesting facts. I especially appreciated the comparative illustrations that showed the relative heights of the seven highest mountains and the mountain life on Mt. Everest.

beautiful book

My children, ages 4 and 7, love this book. It is beautifully illustrated with collages (do not expect photographs). It has multiple levels of information that make it possible for the children to read it again and again.

beautiful, creative, absorbing, and my kids love it!

I bought this book because I love Steve Jenkins' other books. His technique is so creative--the papers he uses (I wonder if he makes some of them) and how he uses them evoke so much--texture, color, temperature. My 8 and 10 year old boys loved this book, and we are Mt. Everest nuts. There's plenty of room on the bookshelf for books with photos (Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine is truly wonderful), but Jenkins' book is not only informative--very!--but it is poetry with paper. I highly recommend this book, along with Jenkins' other terrific books.