The Young Adventurer's Guide to Everest: From Avalanche to Zopkio - Hardcover

Jonathan Chester has just returned from base camp with the sights and stories that make Mount Everest the most compelling mountain on earth. He is the author and/or photographer of a number of books for adults and children, including The Nature of Penguins, Busy Penguins, A for Antarctia, and Splash!

Grades 5-8--An alphabet for budding mountaineers, couched in conversational text accompanied by superbly clear color photographs. From avalanches to frostbite, from Namche Bazaar to zopkios, Chester presents a panorama of people, places, routes, perils, and gear for both armchair Hillarys and Norgay wanna-bes in a manner that will make readers dream of Himalayan adventuring. Laced with quotes from famous climbers, the book gives a dramatically clear picture of the world's highest place and an understanding of why people would challenge its extreme difficulties and how they would go about it. Addenda include a page on how to get started in serious climbing, a glossary of "Everest Lingo," and sources-books, climbing clubs, Web sites, maps, magazines, and more. Consider slipping this book into a unit on geology or geography, in company with such fine titles as Seymour Simon's attractive Mountains (Morrow, 1994); Thomas Locker's poetic Mountain Dance (Silver Whistle, 2001); Steve Jenkins's magnetic The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest (Houghton, 1999); and Audrey Salkeld's Mystery on Everest: A Photobiography of George Mallory and Broughton Coburn's Triumph on Everest: A Photobiography of Sir Edmund Hillary (both National Geographic, 2000), both of which are compelling.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
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