Review - Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee (Little People, BIG DREAMS)
by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara
illustrated by Miguel Bustos
Date: 2019
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Part of the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Bruce Lee, the martial artist and Hollywood film star.

Born in San Francisco but raised in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee was the child star of Hong Kong cinema. But, after getting into trouble as a teenager, his father sent him to live in America. Starring roles were hard to come by for Asian-American actors in Hollywood, but Bruce went on to act in blockbuster hits, featuring his skill as a martial artist. This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the great actor's life.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This picture-book biography of Bruce Lee is just okay. While it taught me a lot I didn't know before about the man, it also had a lot of repetition, and left out the aspect of his life that is almost universally known: his untimely death.

I've noticed this trend with other books in the series. Sometimes they're sanitized to the point that they don't even seem to represent the person in question.

Often, I glean more from the little timeline at the back of these books than from the text itself. In this case, however, a lot of the information in that timeline was just a repeat of what was in the book proper. And when I was done, I went looking for more information, unsatisfied with what I'd read.

The illustrations are cartoon-like and simple, but somewhat appealing. They're not the best I've seen in this series, but they're not the worst, either.

This is just a middle-of-the-road entry in this series for me. I just wish that the author would be courageous enough to include some of the less-positive aspects of these people's lives (including death, especially in cases like this one where it's such a well-known part of the story).

Thank you to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5