Little People, Big Dreams: Amelia Earhart by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Mariadiamantes
| Little People, Big Dreams: Amelia Earhart by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Mariadiamantes | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: A biography of flying pioneer Amelia Earhart perfectly pitched for the emerging reader. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: September 2016 |
| Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 978-1847808851 | |
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Amelia Earhart was born just before the end of the nineteenth century but she would become the most famous female pilot of the twentieth, having first become interested in planes when she went to an airshow when she was just nineteen. Shortly afterwards a pilot gave her a ride in a biplane and from that moment on she knew that she had to fly. There had been precursors to this obsession though: when she was a little girl she like to imagine that she could stretch her wings and fly like a bird.
She took flying lessons and bought her own plane which she used to set a new women's world record when she took the plane to fourteen thousand feet. She was the first woman to fly over the Atlantic, firstly with a pilot and a mechanic and then by herself. Earhart didn't just fly - she also encouraged other female pilots - but she was always keen to take on another challenge. She was the first person to fly solo across the Pacific ocean, but it was in 1937 when she attempted to fly around the world that she disappeared off Howland Island in the mid Pacific.
Isabel Sanchez Vegara's book is aimed at the seven plus age group and the vocabulary for the emerging reader is perfect: it's sufficiently challenging to increase vocabulary, but not to the point of being daunting. The story is simply told and deals with the fact of her disappearance sympathetically and sensitively. Mariadiamantes' illustrations complement the story well, although I was a little confused as to why Earhart is never seen without her flying goggles: they look most unusual on a small child.
For a child who needs or wants more than the basic information in the story there's a potted biography giving more details at the back of the books as well as some further reading. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
The books will probably find its most comfortable home in the primary school library, where it will sit perfectly next to the companion biographies of Maya Angelou, Coco Chanel and Frida Kahlo.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Little People, Big Dreams: Amelia Earhart by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Mariadiamantes at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Little People, Big Dreams: Amelia Earhart by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Mariadiamantes at Amazon.com.
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