"With enough oxygen for two people,
only the group's climbing leader, Junko,
and her guide, Ang Tsering Sherpa, would
attempt Everest's summit. Could Junko
accomplish what no woman had before?
Almost two weeks later, they reached
their last camp. Waves of wind rattled
their tent like a tiny vessel on a wild
ocean. Before dawn, Junko began her
ascent."
Having lived these many years, and read thousands of books, I am still surprised at how much there it to learn, and how many people whose stories I have never heard. I have often mentioned that picture book biographies introduce our young readers to many who are real heroes in their field. Sharing one biography every week of the school year means students know the stories of 52 real people in all fields, and whose lives have had an impact.
I had never heard anything about Junko Tabei until Up, Up Ever UP! was chosen as a Caldecott Honor book in 2025. I read the reviews, realizing I knew little about mountain climbing at all. Well, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, yes. I did not know this trailblazing woman who realized when she was a very young girl that what she wanted to do was to climb.
Her first climb with friends happened when she was ten years old. She knew then she wanted more; life got in the way and when it was time to leave home, she moved to Tokyo where women were not allowed in mountaineering clubs. Only one accepted her, leading to her spending every weekend climbing with others. She married a mountaineer and had two children, climbed endlessly with other women who only wanted to climb higher and higher. Their goal ... Everest! No woman had ever made it to the summit.
Their preparation was endless and not without setbacks. Once ready, they landed in Nepal. This all-woman team made headlines, as you can imagine.
"The team spent weeks establishing camps
beyond the maze of moving ice and deep
crevasses of the Khumbu Icefall until Everest
awoke, and ...
a dragon's roar shook the night.
AVALANCHE!"
With only enough oxygen for two, Junko and her guide, Ang Tsering Sherpa, would try to reach the summit. Two weeks later, they were on their way to the top! It didn't stop there for Junko. She continued to climb with women around the world, while always missing the allure of the Himalayas. She was a leader, not only in climbing but in cleaning up the trash others left behind. She planted apple seeds to improve life for people living there and fought for the protection of mountain ecosystems.
It is impossible to do justice to Yuko Shimizu's incredible artwork using a Japanese calligraphy brush that was specifically made for Buddhist sutra and black India ink to make drawings on watercolor paper, then colored digitally using Photoshop. They complement the story's spirit at every turn and make it entirely memorable. Back matter includes an author's note, a timeline, a glossary, and a selected bibliography.
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