First to the Top: Sir Edmund Hillary's Amazing Everest Adventure

First To The Top--Sir Edmund Hillary's Amazing Everest Adventure by David Hill, illustrated by Phoebe Morris is one of our current favorite non-fiction books! We follow the life of Sir Edmund from childhood in rural New Zealand to the adventure of being in the first party of climbers to plan, then create a path to the top of Mount Everest and the perilous journey up the mountain. I appreciated how respectfully the Himalayan mountain guides were represented, and the lifetime friendship that Sir Edmund forged with his personal mountain guide, Tenzing Norgay was heart warming. The book describes how Sir Edmund frequently returned to Nepal and helped fund schooling and resources for the people there. The illustrations really won my heart in this beautiful story. My boys were fascinated by the beautiful images. We had never heard about this particular story before, so it was an eye opening introduction to a famous mountaineer who was eventually knighted by the new Queen of England!

Great story outlining Hillary's life and famous climb of Mt Everest.