Anita Yasuda

A well-done biography of a very determined person. But reading it really makes me realize how massively stupid mountain climbing is. Leave the mountain alone, ya moronic adrenaline junkies!

Caldecott Honor 2025
Illustrations were made with a Japanese calligraphy brush and black India ink on watercolor paper, and digitally colored in Photoshop.

Junko Tabei always dreamed of climbing: first the hill near her house, then the tallest mountains in the world. She joined one of the few mountaineering clubs that allowed women, and climbed on the weekends; in 1975, she became the first woman to summit Mount Everest. She continued climbing, always encouraging other women to climb too, and show more campaigned for responsible tourism. Inspiring.

Back matter includes an author's note, a timeline (1852-2019), a glossary, source notes, and a selected bibliography.

See also: How to Solve A Problem by Ashima Shiraishi and Yao Xiao show less

First sentence: Junko's hill was her entire world.

Premise/plot: Up, Up Ever Up! is a picture book biography of mountain climber and activist Junko Tabei. It recently earned a Caldecott Honor.

My thoughts: I liked this one. I did. Books about mountain climbing aren't really "my thing" if you will. But I do try to keep up with the Newbery and Caldecott winners and honors. And I do enjoy a good nonfiction picture book biography. I think this one will appeal to readers who do like adventure-y show more outdoors sports. There are so many good-to-great nonfiction biographies that kids can read these days.

As for the rating. I have gone back and forth a dozen times between three stars and four stars. I have. This book was just made for a three and half star rating. (Which I don't do because GoodReads doesn't do). show less

This is a nice, accessible telling of the Iroquois creation myth for young children, going further than some versions I know by explaining the emergence of good and evil in the world. My only complaint is that the art is comic-bookish; it does not reflect or amplify the mythic power of the story.