Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World (Vashti Harrison) (utgåvan 2018)

The story written by Vashti Harrison explorers black women of history who have accomplished many things. These trailblazers have made great contributions to the world from science to speaking up for others.

This book contains 36 short (one page) biographies of a diverse assortment of successful female creators—both artists and scientists—intended for children. Each double page spread contains an illustration (created through Photoshop) of the featured woman and a biographical sketch. Following the biographies, there are a couple of paragraphs of an additional 18 women, with a single paragraph of information about them for further study.

I am conflicted on how to rate this book. On the one hand, this book fills a big gap, not just in children’s literature, but in biographies in general, focusing on successful women, especially women of color. On the other hand, the interest level is probably 3rd through 6th grade, but I think the reading level is at least a 5th grade level, and it is not the most engaging writing style.

The illustrations also create a dilemma for me. The colors are lush and beautiful and I think children will be drawn to them and like them. (I like them.) However, the faces are babyish, and I wonder if they leave an impression that these women are not to be taken seriously, especially for young boys.

Despite my concerns, I will be purchasing a copy to keep in my classroom library.

Note: I read the Kindle edition of this book on my iPad and do not recommend the Kindle edition. Each page displayed as a double-page spread, with the bio information on the right and the illustration on the left. The text was small, it could be enlarged slightly paragraph by paragraph, but was still small and difficult to read. It was impossible to read on my iPhone. ( )

The book Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World is about 35 different influential women from around the world and the impact each of them has made. There are people students may recognize and others they will not. There are writers, artists, scientists, inventors, and more represented in this book. This makes the story entertaining and relatable for students. While this book is targeted for younger students I still think it is applicable to middle schoolers because I shows and very broad representation of women that have different races and come from different cultures. This make it a very relatable book and it inspires women to go after their dreams and that their potential is limitless. This book would be really great to read during history when going over influential women in world history. ( )

A collection on women who helped change the world. ( )

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World was beautifully written with amazing illustrations! It was only after starting this post that I realized all of the women have their eyes closed. I wonder if there's a reason or significance for that? Regardless, the illustrations really complemented the information being shared about each woman.

Like with the other book, most of these woman were unfamiliar. I think I actually preferred not knowing anyone, because it made for an even more enjoyable learning experience. This one is meant for younger readers, which is why I think my son paid closer attention to this one. Vashti Harrison was able to condense the information about each individual woman and present it in a way that was both informative and interesting.

I believe books like this are really important, and I'm happy that they are going to be out in the world. I want my children to know that they have the potential and the ability to do great things, and that their gender doesn't matter. It's books like this that give me hope for a better future for my children.

Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on November 16, 2018. ( )