First to the Top

by David Hill and illustrated by Phoebe Morris

“First to the Top” by David Hill and illustrated by Phoebe Morris. Published by Penguin. A story about Sir Edmund Hillary and his historic climb to the top of Mt.Everest in 1953.

Edmund Hillary loved exploring. When he was a boy, he built rafts to explore the Waikato river in New Zealand. He grew up in the small town of Tuakau. He loved climbing mountains. He joined the Air Force during the Second World War. He continued climbing more mountains in New Zealand, France and Switzerland after the war ended. He became one of the best mountaineers in the world.

In 1951, he was invited to be a part of a British expedition to the Himalayas in Nepal. The plan was to find a way to the top of Mount Everest. Ed felt thrilled to be near the world’s highest peak. He worked with the group and the local Sherpa guides. They could see a way to the top but it looked quite dangerous. The expedition ended and Ed went back to New Zealand to work as a beekeeper.

Two years later, Ed was called back to be a part of an expedition to reach the summit of Everest. How did he fare in the expedition? Was the expedition successful? Did they manage to reach the top? What were the challenges that they faced? How did the shy boy from Tuakau end up becoming world famous? Read the book to know all of these. Overall a motivational story of grit, determination, passion and the focus to achieve one’s dreams.

My seven year old loved the book and said that Edmund Hillary is his favourite character! We recently read about Tine Mena who was the first woman from North Eastern India to scale Mt. Everest. This led us to talk more about Everest and I told him about Hillary and Tenzing. I had bought this book two years ago and it was too much text for him to pay attention then. So the book was kept away for future and now it is one of his favourites :D   

We discussed about one of my all time favourite books which is “Paths of Glory” by Jeffrey Archer. It talks about the life of British Mountaineer George Mallory who attempted scaling Mt Everest in early 1920s. He was last seen with his climbing partner Sandy Irvine when they were 245 m below the summit. His body was discovered 75 years later. I somehow feel that he did climb Everest though there is no sure shot evidence.

Where to buy from?

An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.

Climbing Mount Everest is quite an extraordinary task and something that I can’t even fathom doing. There is a simple way for the likes of me to see it in a much easier manner. If you take a flight from Delhi to Paro in Bhutan, I did this 8 years ago, on a clear day you can see Mt Everest from the flight. Try and ensure you take a window seat on the left of the plane :)