Little People Big Dreams
Published by Allen & Unwin (Quarto Group UK)
Date: 23 August 2017
R.R.P: $19.99
The excitement I felt when opening these three Little People Big Dreams book when they arrived in the mail is indescribable. I was presented with elegant and beautifully presented books, and I was instantly love with the possibilities of them.
This series of books celebrates strong, courageous, outstanding women who achieved greatness and have had a lasting impact on the world. These biographies have been written in a child friendly picture book form and there is a short timeline at the end of each story with a few photos.
Each book is not only a celebration of greatness, but a feast to the eyes with pages of captivating images and colour that saw me lingering over each page. I read about Emmeline Pankhurst, Audrey Hepburn, and Rosa Parks and learnt more about these women that I had previously known.
Rosa Parks
Rosa knew this wasn’t right. She knew she was a regular person, just as good as anyone else.
Rosa Parks life is shared through the beautiful pages of this green book. from her early life, to her days of fighting for the rights of fellow black people. The story is written in a children friendly manner, while teaching about the past and how it has shaped our present day. The information is historically accurate and gives insight into how brave Rosa was as she continued to stand up for justice for her remaining life.
Audrey Hepburn
Wherever she went, Audrey tried to make every child happy. She helped raise money to provided children with water, food and medicine.
I am sure many of us think we know Audrey Hepburn from all the movies that she was in; but this book gives insight into her childhood and later life that inspired her to nurture and provide necessities to children across the globe. At each turn when things came against her she didn’t give up and never forgot her humble beginnings. Audrey’s life shows us never to give up and ‘Dance as though no one is watching. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on Earth.’
Emmeline Pankhurst
She told them she would keep fighting until every woman was free to do the same things as men.
Emmeline Pankhurst wasn’t as well known to me so I found this book quite interesting. This book tells how Emmeline didn’t like that women were being treated unfairly across the globe, so she began fighting for women’s rights. When the men went to war, Emmeline encouraged women to take over jobs that the men would usually do, and they did so with grace and strength. It wasn’t until Emmeline died that her ultimate dream came true…women got the right to vote. This book teaches us that we should never give up, if we truly believe in something that we should give it all we have. While Emmeline didn’t see her dream happen in her lifetime, she paved the way for the future.
These books would be a great resource for school aged children, all throughout their primary school years. The books would also be suitable to read to 3-5 year olds, although they might not fully understand the concept of them.
There are more books in this series which include women such as Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart and Coco Chanel. I believe these are a must have series on school and public library shelves, each of them a wonderful resource for teaching children to stand up for what they believe in, to believe in themselves, their strength and ability.
Thank you to Allen & Unwin & Quarto Group UK for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Little Big Reads 