To the Top of the World by Deborah Blumenthal

To the Top of the World

Barbara Hillary, the First Black Woman to Reach the North and South Poles

Deborah Blumenthal

Atheneum Books for Young Readers · Print & ebook · October 21, 2025

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.

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Who it’s for
Follow Barbara Hillary’s path from childhood dreams of adventure to the North and South Poles.
Themes
Perseverance, Polar exploration, Climate advocacy
Genres
Biographies of Women for Kids, Polar Regions, Protecting the Planet

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About this book

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.

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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!

Hillary’s Polar Journeys

Follow Barbara Hillary’s path from childhood dreams of adventure to the North and South Poles.

Come here for

  • Barbara Hillary’s journeys to the North and South Poles
  • Her later dedication to protecting the planet

Expect

  • A biography of perseverance through childhood hardships and adult illness
  • Polar travel and concern about climate change

Where it sits

Polar Regions67%
Biographies of Women for Kids66%
Protecting the Planet44%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Biographies of Women for Kids
  • African American Life (U.S.)
  • Polar Regions
Authors
Deborah Blumenthal
Publisher
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published
October 21, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Perseverance · Polar exploration · Climate advocacy
Reading lane
Biographies of Women for Kids