Vivienne Westwood (Little People, BIG DREAMS)
by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara
illustrated by Laura Callaghan
Date: 2019
Publisher: Lincoln Children's Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley
New in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Vivienne Westwood, the flame-haired fashion designer and impresario.
When Vivienne was a young woman, she wasn't sure how a working class girl from England could make a living in the art world. But after discovering her passion for design and jewelry making, she erupted onto the fashion scene with a bang. Vivienne's designs became iconic, and she became famous for letting her clothes speak for themselves. This moving 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 designer's life.
(synopsis from Goodreads)
The cover illustration on this book is cute. Unfortunately, that's the best picture in the whole thing. I really did not like the style of drawings in this book, and it brought down my enjoyment overall. Not only do the pictures look like something someone whipped up with MS Paint, they're also a bit confusing at times, and I'm not sure if they accurately reflect England in the 20th century.
I'd never heard of Vivienne Westwood before, although now I know I was already familiar with her style. She's basically a punk fashion icon. The text part of the book tells her story fairly well, if a bit simply. I would've liked to know a bit more about her designs and how she influenced the punk movement.
The pictures just got in the way for me because I was distracted. At one point, the text talks about how Vivienne got involved in the fight against climate change. But the illustration focuses on an anti-nuclear weapons march! And the rest of the pictures--especially the ones that depict her earlier years--almost seem to be aiming to be politically correct. While it's possible that, as a teacher in Harrow, her classes had only 20% white students, I find it difficult to believe that tiny little Tintwhistle, Cheshire was half people of colour in the 1940s and '50s. The fact that it was drawn that way gives me the impression that the illustrator hadn't done much research.
I'm not having a lot of luck with these books. I liked the first one I read (which was about Stephen Hawking), but the illustrations in a lot of the others have left me cold and uninterested in reading any more of the books.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lincoln Children's Books for providing a digital ARC.
Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 1/5
Originality: 2/5
Enjoyment: 2/5
Overall: 2.17 out of 5
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