To the Top of the World
- Feb 2
- 2 min read
Barbara Hillary, the First Black Woman
to Reach the North and South Poles
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Atheneum Books
(Simon & Schuster)
pub. 10.21.2025
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Deborah Blumenthal
Illustrator: Anastasia Magloire Williams
Character: Barbara Hillary
Overview:
"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!"
Tantalizing taste:
"Barbara Hillary lived in a world of you can, not you can't...
Barbara didn't worry about her health,
even when she was seventy-five
and even though cancer had made her lungs
work at 75 percent of what they should...
When she realized that a Black woman
had never made the...trek [to the North Pole]
an idea began to form.
She would be the adventurer
she never saw in her childhood books...
[After reaching the North and South Poles],
Barbara went on to visit other areas
where most travelers don't go,
learning about how climate change
had harmed places like the poles,
where temperatures were rising
and melting the ice...
If something wasn't done, no other adventurer
would be able to reach those places again."
And something more: Deborah Blumenthal in the Author's Note explains: "While Barbara's accomplishments were extraordinary for a person of any age, what struck me most was the fact that she refused to let time, fear, or negativity get in the way of her dreams...Barbara wanted her life to be an empowering example for others."