Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 08/11/2025 At 75 years old, Barbara Hillary (1931-2019) traveled to the North Pole, and this celebratory picture book applauds the subject’s attitude, reiterating how she "lived in a world of you can, not you can’t." Fast-forwarding through a childhood spent reading, the story begins in earnest after Hillary, retired after 55 years as a nurse, determines "to explore exotic worlds" she’d read about. Blumenthal’s laudatory text spotlights the figure’s grit as she raises funds and trains for her successful 2007 arctic journey, becoming the first Black woman to make the trip, and then travels to the South Pole in 2011, before devoting her final years to learning and lecturing about climate change-all the while continuing to "dream... learn... and plan" more trips. Magloire Williams’s realistic artwork energetically captures their subject’s resolve. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) - Copyright 2025

School Library Journal - 10/03/2025 K-Gr 3—It is rare to find a picture book biography that truly brings life to a subject. Blumenthal and Williams succeed wildly in this biography of Barbara Hillary, the first Black woman to reach both the North and South Poles. A nurse for over 55 years, Hillary, who was also a breast and lung cancer survivor, decides at the age of 75 to become the adventurer she has always wanted to be. Through fierce determination, grit, and accompanied by her wry sense of humor, Hillary goes dogsledding, photographs polar bears, and reaches both the poles by the time she was 79. The details of her journey are shown in illustrations that range in style from realism to more cartoonish; these provide admirable support to the book. Back matter is included. VERDICT Recommended for purchase for any collection wishing to spotlight a truly remarkable individual.—Maria Graybosch - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 10/01/2025 With a supportive mother and a fiercely determined mindset, “Barbara Hillary lived in a world of you can, not you can’t.” Her age (75), health (a double cancer survivor with reduced lung capacity), and the fact that her heroes didn’t look like her didn’t quell Barbara’s enthusiasm. “She would be the adventurer she never saw in her childhood books.” Training, fundraising, and building the snow skills she’d need, Barbara determinedly honed her preparedness for the arduous trek first to the North Pole, following in trailblazing Matthew Henson’s footsteps, and later venturing to the South Pole. Barbara’s perseverance and enthusiasm shine through admiring text and joyful digital portraiture that captures her icy accomplishments as well as the global environmental advocacy that came in their wake. A great fit for women’s history enthusiasts and young adventurers, this celebratory biography offers welcome representation of an older Black woman in the wilderness and reminds readers of all ages that it’s never too late to dream big dreams and chase them. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.