Title: Little People, Big Dreams: Taylor Swift*
Author: Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Borghild Fallberg (illus.)
Rating: 4.5 stars / 5 stars
*There’s no Bookshop hyperlink for this book at the moment because it hasn’t shown up on the website yet.
Favorite Quote: “[S]he realized that to stand out she needed to find her own voice.” Vegara, Maria Isabel Sanchez, Fallberg, Borghild. Little People, Big Dreams: Taylor Swift, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. E-book ed.
Review: Thank you to the publisher, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, and the NetGalley platform for the free e-ARC that I received in exchange for an honest review.
I know that this is wildly outside my normal realm of reading, but it seemed like a timely read to explore, and while I neither have children nor plan to have them, I am at an age where my friends are starting to have children and I am DETERMINED to help build their libraries.
That being said, I wish this book, and books like it, existed when I was younger. (Perhaps I was just unaware, but I feel like none of the books I read were about real people that were also meant to be inspirational at such a young age.) This book is clearly designed for very young readers (I’m terrible at guessing ages, but I’d say maybe preschool age?). It follows the evolution of Taylor Swift from young child, to budding artist, to international super star, with a detour here or there to explore the challenges she faced on that trajectory.
It’s hard to critique this as I would most books I review because I’m not looking for figurative language, challenging plots, or literary artistry (though this book’s artistry - the illustrations - are fun and colorful and engaging). But overall, I found it a fun, age-appropriate book about the lives of a star children are most certainly going to learn about early in their lives.
Similarly, it’s hard to find criticism, though the one thing I did notice is that the book didn’t quite address any of the valid criticisms of Taylor Swift (failure to take a stand on geo-political issues where her voice would likely influence the masses who look to her as a leader, cultural appropriation, a reliance on capitalism that few stars have perfected in the way that she has, etc.) I recognize that this is a children’s book and it is meant to be inspiring (which it is), but I don’t think a child is ever too young to learn that people are flawed - even heroes and idols.
About that Quote: It appears that the purpose of these books (so far I’ve only read this one, but I downloaded another one available on NetGalley - review coming soon) is to inspire young children to learn who they are and to follow their passions and their beliefs. This quote sums that up quite nicely, and is a message many adults (myself included) could benefit from as well. So to little and big readers everywhere, here’s the sign to find your voice.
Will you be buying this book for the little readers in your life? Share below!
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