Book Review: Little Guides to Great Lives by Isabel Thomas

★★★★★

Hello all!

I have another treat for you this week! This time I’m reviewing the upcoming Little Guides to Great Lives series.

So far, this series exists out of five books on Nelson Mandela, Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, and Leonardo da Vinci. But there are already new editions planned! I’ve already spied with my little eye a gorgeous green cover for Charles Darwin, coming in October.

The main reason I gave this series five stars is because it includes both men and women. Don’t get me a wrong, I have been a huge fan of the recent uptick of inspirational individuals being turned into picture books and bedtime stories for children. However, I have noticed a trend where girls are apparently supposed to have women as role models and vice versa (I’m looking at you, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls and Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different). I think that is missing the whole point of this movement. As a girl, the person who I aspire to be like above all else is David Attenborough (who doesn’t?). The whole point of all the noise being made is that that is perfectly fine. And I think these latest books are undermining that idea, and causing a greater divide between men and women by emphasising a ‘boys versus the girls’ mentality. In comes the Little Guides to Great Lives series!

Additionally, I thought the choice of persons included was also very well done. However, since choices such as Amelia Earhart have been done before a number of times, you can’t help but compare them. From that perspective, I loved how in-depth these books are. With one-page-per-person stories, you simply don’t get to know the whole story. Many of the people included have had multiple achievements that make them so important today. These books really bring across this message with the added timeline in the back, as well as always ending with an explanation why they were so influential, and continue to be so influential today.

Each of the books include a timeline and a glossary in the back, as well as a section on translations if applicable. I think this is a great touch and allows the stories to stay closer to the real story, instead of over-simplifying it just because ‘revolution’ is a more difficult concept for children. That said, I did think some definitions could have been improved upon: the definition for alcoholic is “a person who suffers from an addiction to alcohol”, which in my opinion, still doesn’t quite explain what alcohol is. On the other hand, there were some terms I thought should have been included in the glossary, such as ‘3D’.

Moreover, even though the illustrations from each book have been created by different illustrators, they have been matched together well and there is a continuity between the books. You won’t immediately be able to tell they are from different illustrators, but if you look closely there are some subtle differences. What I especially adore is that each of them have a specific bright colour scheme that is already apparent in the cover of the books! For example, Amelia Earhart’s blue and yellow cover is reflected in the predominately blue and yellow illustrations, with some splashes of other colours, such as green, here and there.

All in all, I was super excited for this series, and it did not disappoint in any way. With the many different series out there with similar subject matter, it can be hard to decide which one you should go for to collect or to give to your children. But if it were me, I’d definitely choose this one. Especially if one of the new editions were to be on David Attenborough (hint hint).  

This series will be released in June 2018. If you would like to buy your own copies, you can do so at Book Depository.*

*Please note that I'm a Book Depository affiliate, so I might make a small profit if you use the link above

I would like to thank Laurence King Publishing for sending me review copies in exchange for an honest review.