Tiger of the Snows: Tenzing Norgay: The Boy Whose Dream Was Everest (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Ed Young (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6–A moving tribute to a humble man who realized a remarkable dream. The poetic prose tells the story of a Nepalese Sherpa boy who tended yaks on steep slopes, but who was always looking up and dreaming about the snow-dotted black-rock peak of Mount Everest (Mountain,/Mountain,/Why do you call me?). Norgay traveled to Katmandu, where he Unlocked the secrets of the climber's rope,/Studied the lore of the axe,/And apprenticed himself to death and danger. The poem's climax details the events of May 29, 1953, when he and Edmund Hillary made their final ascent. Throughout, the author repeats the refrain, A song for Tenzing,/Tenzing Norgay, followed by one of the man's attributes (Born to heights, Pathfinder, Quick-footed, etc.), elucidating his life and experiences. Young's hauntingly beautiful illustrations capture the mystery and grandeur of these dangerously high peaks with somber-hued pastels, predominantly blues and purples, set against black backgrounds. While most of the paintings are panoramic, with Norgay shown as a tiny figure, the final spread is a striking close-up portrait of him at mountain top, dazzled by the sun and beaming with pride. A stunning and lyrical ode to a contemplative man and his amazing achievement.–Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL
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From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. In this picture-book biography, luminous images and spare, dramatic poetry introduce famous Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who was the first to climb Mount Everest, in 1953, along with Sir Edmund Hillary. The immediate, laudatory poems move fluidly between the day of the historic climb and Norgay's youth and training in the Himalayas. A reference to Norgay's "simple character" strikes a condescending note, and some readers will need more context to understand scientific references such as "the airless air," in which "arms are tree trunks, / Feet turn to chunks of lead." Still, Burleigh's fluid words evoke the "deep-lunged / quick-footed" physical feats, the danger, and even the sadness that comes when the climbers must return to "the low and dreamless land." Young's pastels capture breathtaking sweeps of mountain and sky in grainy, dreamlike textures that suggest the icy, rarefied air; the elusiveness of the challenge; and the poetry's almost spiritual reverence for the mountain. An afterword closes this unusual, memorable introduction to the legendary figure. Suggest Mary Ann Fraser's On Top of the World (1991)^B to readers who want more. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689830424
• ISBN-13: 978-0689830426
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #902,085 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars VERY DISSAPOINTING, May 12, 2009

By	Lin Holen "Lucy5000" (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm rarely dissapointed with the books I buy from Amazon but this book was not at all what I expected. I thought it was a biography about Tenzing Norgay. Imagine my dissapointment when I got a childrens book...