Review - Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World

Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World
by Vashti Harrison
Date: 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 96
Format: e-book
Source: library

The instant New York Times bestseller!

From the author of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History comes the highly anticipated follow-up, a beautifully illustrated collectible detailing the lives of women creators around the world.

Featuring the true stories of 35 women creators, ranging from writers to inventors, artists to scientists, Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World inspires as it educates. Readers will meet trailblazing women like Mary Blair, an American modernist painter who had a major influence on how color was used in early animated films, actor/inventor Hedy Lamarr, environmental activist Wangari Maathai, architect Zaha Hadid, filmmaker Maya Deren, and physicist Chien-Shiung Wu. Some names are known, some are not, but all of the women had a lasting effect on the fields they worked in.

The charming, information-filled full-color spreads show the Dreamers as both accessible and aspirational so readers know they, too, can grow up to do something amazing.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I recently read Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by the same author/illustrator. While I thought it was great (and a perfect read for Black History Month), the limited scope of African-American women left me wanting a bit more. So when I saw that Harrison had also written Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World, I was excited to take a look. While it is more of a global look at inspiring women, it's limited in a different way... so I still wasn't quite satisfied.

Little Leaders profiles African-American women in all fields. Little Dreamers, however, concentrates on women who are creators, either in the arts or the sciences (and, in some cases, both). I wasn't expecting that, and so was a little disappointed not to see names like Emmeline Pankhurst or Malala Yousafzai. Even within the selected bios, there were a few disappointing oversights; I was glad to see that Hypatia of Alexandria was included as a mini bio at the end, for example, but I was curious as to why she didn't get the full treatment.

Still, we're treated to a number of inspiring biographical sketches about artists, dancers, architects, and various types of scientists. For some of these women, we may be familiar with their work and not even realize it. For others, their inclusion highlights important contributions their work has made in preserving and celebrating disappearing culture. We meet amazing women like Fatima Al-Fihri (who oversaw the construction of a mosque and university in the 9th century, an institution that exists to this day), Hedy Lamarr (without whose ideas I might not be able to post this review), Toni Morrison (the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature), Violeta Parra (who catalogued traditional Chilean folk songs so they wouldn't be forgotten), Vera Rubin (who helped prove the existence of dark matter), and Amalia Hernández (founder of the Ballet Folklórico de México; see picture below).

I hope there are further titles in this series yet to come. The short biographies are easily digestible, and would be great for use in classrooms. The focus on women is also nice, as I've read similar books that focus on a certain group of people (such as scientists) that are heavily skewed toward men. Women made important contributions to history as well, even if those contributions weren't always recognized at the time.

Harrison's lovely illustrations are just the icing on the cake. They highlight what makes each of these women special. I don't really have any complaints about the aesthetic of this book.

Overall, this is another strong non-fiction title from Vashti Harrison. I'll be eagerly awaiting her future work. There are so many more stories to tell about incredible women throughout history; I hope Harrison takes on the challenge and teaches us more about them!

Quotable moment:

Premise: 5/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.17 out of 5