To the Top of the World

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Author(s)

Deborah Blumenthal

Co-Authors / Illustrators

Anastasia Magloire Williams

Publisher

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

October 21, 2025

ISBN

978-1665927734

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Go exploring with Barbara Hillary, the first Black woman to set foot on both the North and South Poles in this thrilling and inspiring picture book biography about perseverance, imagination, and following your dreams.

As a young girl, Barbara Hillary imagined a life of adventure. Despite facing hardships in her childhood and illness as an adult, she never gave up on her dream: to travel the world and explore hard-to-reach places. So, at age seventy-five, she became the first Black woman to set foot on the North Pole. Less than four years later, she did the same at the South Pole.

Barbara loved everything the world has to offer. During her travels, she discovered that the remote places she cared so much about were threatened by climate change. From then on, she dedicated herself to saving the planet for future generations. She never let her age—or anything else—stop her until she stood at the top of the world!

Editor review

1 review

Inspirational Life Goals

April 10, 2026 (Updated: June 04, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Learning Value

4.0

Barbara Hillary had an ordinary life... until she decided to change it. She was raised by a single mother who always told her that she could do whatever she set her mind to. Even though Barbara spent 55 years as a nurse, she had always dreamed of being like the adventurers about whom she had read. At the age of 75, she decided to fulfill those dreams. She learned to dog sled, and after reading about explorer Matthew Henson, decided she wanted to travel to the North Pole, since she would be the first Black woman to go there. It was expensive, but she raised money. It was physically demanding, so she trained hard, despite having lung cancer. She eventually traveled to Norway, and skied with two guides until she was standing on the top of the world! She traveled more, and lectured about saving endangered spaces so that others could experience the thrill of seeing them like she had. Up until her death at the age of 87 (in 2019), she lived by the philosophy not of "you can't", but of "you CAN".

Good Points

Joy Johnson, who ran the New York City marathon at the age of 86, is one of my heroes, so I was glad to learn about Barbara Hillary and her extraordinary life. Working for 55 years as a nurse would be grueling enough, but I love that Barbara challenged herself to keep growing and exploring. This is a great message to young readers, who might consider everyone over the age of 35 to be washed up!

Williams' illustrations are very realistic and give a good sense of place. Barbara herself looks determined but happy, and I was amazed at how atmospheric the drawings of vast amounts of snow were! This would make a great read aloud for older classes who are working on persistence and need a good example of "grit".

This is a good travel companion for books like Grimes and Lewis' Talking About Bessie, Christensen's
The Daring Nellie Bly, Fern and McCully's Dare the Wind: The Record-breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud, and Hopkinson and Alcorn's Keep On!: The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole.