Beyoncé by Maria Isabel Vegara Sanchez
Beyoncé by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara explores the life of this bright and beautiful personality. Her first ‘gig’ was singing for a captive audience at her mother’s hair salon, where she occasionally earned tips. Not long after, Beyoncé became lead singer of a kid band called Girls Tyme. (Not gonna lie- that sounds very exploitative to me.) She grew through several bands before finally releasing her first solo work, and from there the rest is history! Beyoncé’s style has influenced genres of music and she is today one of the most awarded female singers. Notable accomplishments also include singing at Obama’s inauguration and performing a Super Bowl halftime show.
The entire Little People, Big Dreams series is an awesome introduction to biographical reading for young audiences. Not only that, but they focus on the most inspirational of people from science, entertainment, sports, politics and more. It’s also a very diverse series.
At the end is a section with more detailed information on Beyoncé’s life, suitable for older readers. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences!
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Rafa Nadal by Maria Isabel Vegara Sanchez
Rafa Nadal by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara explores the life of this vibrant personality. From a young age, Rafa loved games with balls. His uncle gave him his very first tennis lesson at age 4! Though he was also passionate about soccer, his family encouraged him to focus on one sport and excel at it. (One thing- I do wish that the proper name for soccer had been used, especially since Rafa isn’t American. Fútbol would be the more appropriate term.) Rafa has won 22 tennis Grand Slams around the world. Today, Nadal is one of the great sportsmen of tennis.
The entire Little People, Big Dreams series is an awesome introduction to biographical reading for young audiences. Not only that, but they focus on the most inspirational of people from science, entertainment, sports, politics and more. It’s also a very diverse series.
At the end is a section with more detailed information on Nadal’s life, suitable for older readers. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences!
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Usain Bolt by Maria Isabel Vegara Sanchez
Usain Bolt by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara explores the life of this vibrant personality. From a young age, Bolt had speed on his side. At age 15, he won the World Junior Championship in track. He also learned a valuable lesson early on- training is essential, natural talent alone does not a champion sustain. After being eliminated from a competition due to injury, Bolt shifted tactics and began to practise diligently. Over his career, Bolt won 8 Olympic gold medals.
The entire Little People, Big Dreams series is an awesome introduction to biographical reading for young audiences. Not only that, but they focus on the most inspirational of people from science, entertainment, sports, politics and more. It’s also a very diverse series.
At the end is a section with more detailed information on Bolt’s life, suitable for older readers. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences! Perfect for class learning as well.
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Leonard Cohen by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Leonard Cohen by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara explores the life of this bright and beautiful personality. A sensitive and creative soul, Cohen won a poetry contest in college, and published his first book of poetry just after graduating. From poetry, it was a small step to songwriting. A bigger step was needed to get to singing on stage. Persuaded to sing at a charity concert, Cohen was so nervous he walked off halfway through. That didn’t last though!
The entire Little People, Big Dreams series is an awesome introduction to biographical reading for young audiences. Not only that, but they focus on the most inspirational of people from science, entertainment, sports, politics and more. It’s also a very diverse series.
At the end is a section with more detailed information on Cohen’s life, suitable for older readers. I admit, this book felt like something was missing as one of the last panels said he was a loving father to Adam and Lorca, yet no previous mention had been made of a family, and the only Lorca previously mentioned was a poet who inspired young Cohen. Still, a great addition to the set. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences!
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Stan Lee by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Stan Lee by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara explores the life of this vibrant personality. Oh, but I grok young Stanley’s reading packaging labels if nothing else were available. I recall, as a child, reading cereal boxes or other packaging at breakfast or lunch. Either because I didn’t have a book, or (more often) my book had been taken away as ‘punishment’. This love of reading would lead Stanley to a writing career and a pen name of Stan Lee. Not as creative as it could’ve been, but hey. He even continued writing during World War II, sending stories back home to his publisher. Stan Lee opened the door to new worlds for people to explore. I love that he always had cameo appearances in the Marvel movies!
The entire Little People, Big Dreams series is an awesome introduction to biographical reading for young audiences. Not only that, but they focus on the most inspirational of people from science, entertainment, sports, politics and more. It’s also a very diverse series.
At the end is a section with more detailed information on Stan Lee’s life, suitable for older readers. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences!
***Many thanks to Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Taylor Swift by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Vegara’s Taylor Swift explores the life of this vibrant eponymous personality. Many of the people in this series are of the past, of history. There are a few who belong to living history, and Swift is one of the younger ones! I think this is great. Learning from contemporary role models leads to even more growth (or decline, as sadly seems the case with JK Rowling) of those looking up to them as their values and ideals mature in ‘real-time’. I’m not explaining this well, but I feel this encourages kids to explore and expand their own morals, values, ideals. Swift recorded her first demo at just age eleven, and soon after, began writing her own songs to find her unique voice. She even became the youngest person to write and perform a #1 country music hit.
The entire Little People, Big Dreams series is an awesome introduction to biographical reading for young audiences. Not only that, but they focus on the most inspirational of people from science, entertainment, sports, politics and more. It’s also a very diverse series.
At the end is a section with more detailed information on Swift’s life, suitable for older readers. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences! Perfect for class learning as well.
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Wilma Rudolph by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Vegara’s Wilma Rudolph explores the life of a truly inspirational personality. Rudolph is a great example of grace in adversity, having struggled with health issues from infancy, including contracting the dread polio. Forced to wear a brace she was told she would always need, Rudolph promised herself she would overcome this necessity.
Not only was she subjected to this hardship, but the Rudolphs lived during a time when people of African-American descent or rather ‘people of colour’ (we do not say Caucasian-American or Euro-American to describe white people born in America. It is ridiculous to separate out African-American or any other category of citizens, unless said people or persons wish it. I prefer to reserve such for new or dual citizens, and not a whole continent either… Also silly. Using the parent country is more appropriate- Nigerian-American, Dutch-American, etc. And now I’m rambling…) were forced to sit at the back of buses, and considered lesser than ‘white people’. (And that is another ridiculous notion. Of the 8 billion humans on earth, only a tiny fraction, perhaps 10%, are white. We *are* the global minority and we need to suck it up and deal.) Moving on…
For five long years, Rudolph’s family took her twice a week to hospital, riding cramped at the back of a bus for two hours. At home, they gave her the same twice daily leg massages the hospital staff did. After a few years, it paid off. Rudolph was able to walk again- an awesome testament to the resilience of the human spirit- and immediately joined her school girls’ basketball team. And the rest is history!
The entire Little People, Big Dreams series is an awesome introduction to biographical reading for young audiences. Not only that, but they focus on the most inspirational of people from science, entertainment, sports, politics and more. It’s also a very diverse series.
At the end is a section with more detailed information on Rudolph’s life, suitable for older readers. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences! Perfect for class learning as well.
***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
