This is a wonderful introduction for children to the life famous author and activist May Angelou. The illustrations really add to the book. An inspiring story for young readers. Enjoy

First of all, I love the illustrations! I don’t think illustrators get enough credit when books like this are published, they’re such a crucial part of the reading experience and make it so much fun! I wanted to learn more about Maya and this didn’t disappoint.

"She showed what you can achieve when you stand up for what you believe in and know the power of your own voice"

Maya Angelou was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1928. During her life she created a huge amount of work including 7 autobiographies, 3 books of essays, 10 collections of poetry as well as plays, films and TV shows. Not only was she a writer, but she was a talented singer and dancer, as well as an activist.

After taking a vow of silence as a teenager for five years, she swore to never be silenced again, using her voice to speak out against injustice. Despite all the heartbreaking things that happened to her, she never gave up in fighting for what was right. Angelou grew up during segregation and became interested in the civil rights movement, becoming friends with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. She also campaigned against apartheid in South Africa.

This book is beautifully illustrated and is an accessible way of educating children about complex issues such as slavery, segregation, racism and sexism. I've enjoyed reading about this inspirational woman, and I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know a lot about her before I read this book. I will definitely be making sure to read some of her work in the near future.

Loved it! A great to get kids into reading, learning and getting to know interesting people. I think your kids will love it. And parents too!

Great biography for the elementary students. Maya Angelou's life story is a story of obstacles, perseverance, and success. As an accomplished writer, a civil rights activist and a teacher, Maya played an important and inspiring role in American History.

This is the second book I have read from this series and I absolutely loved it.

The book was able to provide a lot of information in so few pages and in an easily understandable way. The illustrations were also beautiful and I found that they added a lot to the story.

Overall, this was a really wonderful book and would be amazing to teach young people about Maya Angelou in an easy to digest way.

Overall, this book was an informative take on the life and times of Maya Angelou, an inspiring writer, activist, and teacher. The sentences are easy to comprehend, and more complicated words were underlined and could be found in the glossary at the back of the book. I appreciated the timeline at the back of the book, as well. This book would serve as a great introduction to biographical texts for young readers.

This book had wonderful images and showcases the truly amazing person Maya was. I am so happy that this genre exists because it really gives us a better insight into these important peoples lives.
Thanks again to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for an honest review.

Maya’s love for words began when she lost her own from trauma. Her healing becomes a literary journey that takes her around the world, changing lives wherever she goes. Her powerful voice lives on forever to all who read her words and feel the impact of her powerful perspective and voice.

This book is an comprehensive exploration of Maya Angelou's life and a true inspiration for kids. An added bonus was the great illustrations.

Maya Angelou by Danielle Jawando is part of the Little Guides to Great Lives series. The book is a comprehensive exploration of the life of the inspiring and accomplished Ms Angelou, and will peel back the curtain on a life fully realized. The detailed timeline provided gives testament to the lifelong contributions that this uniquely importantant voice has made to the exploration, and betterment, of the human condition. Bravo to both the author and publishers for recognizing Maya Angelou as a figure whose legacy will continue to inspire future generations.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Laurence King Publishing Ltd for this ARC.

A very well researched and informative book about the activist Maya Angelou.

The glossary and the timeline at the back of book are great instruments to understand fully the character of Maya.

I was somehow not really fond of the graphics but they may have been used for the proof only,hence I am not able to judge them.

Overall a great book,presenting the life of a key persona who fought against discrimination and racism. I was so glad to be able to know more about this amazing woman and I believe that this book would be a good read not only for children but also for older audiences.

Maya Angelou was a key voice in many ways in our society. This book was given to me for free for a preview purpose.
I read this book with my kids to gauge the ages. I won't speak about the content of the book because, well, its Maya and its amazing.
This book won't win awards for color, its simple one tone look on each page is simple and keeps you focused on the content not the extras. The same can be said for the illustrations as they are not overly attention grabbing.
My four year old lost interest after a few pages, not enough to look at. But my 8-13 year olds loved this book. They learned more about Maya as well were challenged to learn more about this amazing woman.

I was apprehensive this would just be another typical pic bio series that have become ever so popular the past few years. I was surprised to how comprehensive it was on Maya's life and how many new things I learned reading this short treasure of a book.

This book is part of a series of biographies; this time elementary school aged readers will learn about Maya Angelou. Maya's story is clearly and inspiringly told. The ups and downs of her life, the struggles, losses and victories all receive attention, although the full details of some of the more difficult aspects of her life are not fully explicated. This makes sense given the book's audience.

Maya's early life, her move to her grandmother, her return to her mother and subsequent elective mutism are all here. Her love of reading and her eventual finding of her voice are described.

The many accomplishments and first that this remarkable woman achieved are described beginning with her becoming the first black woman train conductor, work in television and of course, her commitment to civil rights and teaching. Maya knew and grieved the loss of other well known African Americans including Malcolm X and Martin Luther king. Ms. Angelou's writings are also cited, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and going through her inaugural poem for Barack Obama. Her many awards are also listed.

The back of the book details a timeline and there is also a glossary.

This is an excellent and inspiring biography. As an adult, I finished the book knowing more about this remarkable woman than I had previously.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really well executed and spoke on so many different facets of Maya Angelou's life. I could see it being a bit wordy for younger audiences(probably younger than 8 or 9), but the timeline and glossary in the back helps with that a lot. I really appreciated the mention of other prominent activist Maya Angelou worked with and befriended in her life. I can't judge all the art work because my review copy from net galley only had monochromatic place holders, but the pictures I have found online are lovely.

Striking images and this really shows what an amazing person Maya was. I'm so glad books like these exist to introduce kids to such inspiring people. Also really liked the glossary to introduce children to words like 'activist'.

For a kid's book, I thought the given information was very well researched and portioned. The sentences are easy to comprehend, more complicated words were underlined and could be found in the back in the glossary. I also appreciated a summary in form of a timeline. I liked the monochromatic style of illustrations, though I wonder if it's just the proof version, because else I would find it difficult for a younger audience to gasp what is shown. All in all, a well done and informative take on showing the life of an inspiring woman in history.

A second fine book in this series for me, this time concerning the black American activist and author. From lowly tram conductor to reciter of her own works at presidential inaugurations, she certainly packed a lot into her life, just as America (not at all exclusively) seemed to want her to do less and less, and to think less and less of herself. I couldn't fully engage with this, partly as the artworks weren't rendered complete for my review copy, meaning I had monochrome place-holders at times. I do also find it problematic that books for this audience just mention Malcolm X and suchlike in passing, and never get the chance to show that people like them left a very violent legacy, and a very divided opinion. But that wasn't the remit here. Many people who don't know the full story of Ms Angelou will learn quite a bit here, and that isn't just the young readers this series serves so excellently well.

I loved the content of this book and think it's great for young kids who are looking to learn more about Maya Angelou. I'm not 100% sure if the pictures appear correctly in the e-book format (only yellow and white, no faces?) but if that's an intentional look I felt it took away from the book significantly. I read the book to my daughter and she was so distracted by the pictures (not in a good way) we stopped reading after a few pages.