Everest, illustrated book/large graphic novel excellence

Educational illustrated books get a bad rap.  When readers get to a certain age they feel that books with too many pictures are babyish. The exceptions to those books are graphic novels, which are more mature in their eyes. Everest, The Remarkable Story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Nogay is an illustrated book in name only. In reality, the content, intelligence, details, information and length put this more in league with a graphic novel, albeit one that’s bigger in size than a standard comic book. 

Kids know about Mount Everest. They might not be able to say the mountain range that the mountain is in, but they know its reputation and that it’s the highest one in the world. Everest, The Remarkable Story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Nogay is a detailed look at the climbing race that was happening in the 20s, 30s and 40s in Nepal as various teams tried to reach the peak.

This is the most detailed look at the climb, in a book that’s meant for younger readers, that I’ve ever seen. This isn’t a children’s book, per sea.  The vocabulary and presentation in the book are great for young readers. Our eight year-old looks at this book and is intrigued because of its size, but the content is too advanced for him to read on his own. This is a book that we’d read to children who are under nine and let those older readers consume the book at their own pace.

It’s an easy book to get lost in. I mean lost in the best possible way. This is the lost where you finish the short paragraph you’re reading and then pay attention to the art. The illustrations in Everest by Joe Todd-Stanton are awesome and deserve the big pages that they’re presented on. It’s when you look at the art that you realize that an ‘illustrated book’ is the best format for this book to be in. Had the book been in a graphic novel package the art and story would’ve felt small, which is anything but what this story is.

The text by Alexandra Stewart is also worth commenting because it’s detailed when it needs to be and concise at other times. That effect will keep younger readers engaged in the narrative and make them want to read the entire book.

From the extended title it’s obvious to older readers that this isn’t an Everest book that’s just glossing on the surface. For instance Tenzing Nogay is referenced in the title and almost shares the interior content of the book as well. Nogay was the Hillary’s Sherpa for the trip and we learn that this job was much more than being just a caddy for the mountain. There’s a hierarchy of Sherpas and porters and one had to  train and sacrifice a lot in order to become a sought after Sherpa, much less a sidar.

Everest is the big form graphic novel or middle grade illustrated book that kids didn’t know that they wanted to read. Older readers will discover countless new facts about the region or the people that tried to get to the top. I didn’t know that there were a couple of teams that tried to do it in the 20s and 30s. They got high up, but because they didn’t bring any oxygen with them their attempts always fell short. There was also a very eccentric Englishman, with no mountaineering experience, who thought he could make the ascent due to his internal fortitude. The Sherpas he hired did their job and waited the requisite ten days before going back down the mountain without him.

Everest is a fascinating book. Don’t think it’s a children’s book due to its size. This is an illustrated book that has a wide range of people that will be entertained and educated by it. Come for the art, stay for the education. Come for the mountaineering stories, stay for the experience. This is one of those books that will be in constant rotation in middle school libraries. It’ll keep readers engaged and make them want to learn more about the mountain and its people.