VINCENT VAN GOGH (LITTLE PEOPLE, BIG DREAMS)
MARIA ISABEL SANCHEZ VEGARA

These Little People, BIG DREAMS series range in types making them versatile and enjoyable for younger readers to learn about a vast amount of people celebrated for their innovation of contributing to society in history. I particularly enjoy them even though I'm an adult, because of how excellent the illustrations are juxtaposed against key points of the particular person whose life they are exploring. There are board books offered with simple sentences suitable for babies and toddlers. For children that are older these compact biographies are expanded including additional text that's suitable to digest with more key points about the person whose life is being explored. I wish that I had room to collect all of the physical copies for future grandchildren. There are so many that are in print and they all offer endless possibilities and choices to pick out and read with children.

Vincent was a quiet child and loved playing in nature with his brother Theo.

After he left school his brother Theo encouraged him to try to create the art on the canvas that he was known to produce for his brother. He worked in the art world before he started painting his emotions that are famous and coveted all over the world in galleries.

Once he started painting it was a perfect outlet for him and he never looked back.

Vincent van Gogh's life is explored in this one and although his paintings are widely known and celebrated by art lovers, he didn't gain the same recognition during his life. That fact is sad because his art is so cheerful, using vivid colors that make his paintings iconic. He actually tried working at many different jobs during his lifetime.

He had a close relationship with his brother Theo during their lifetime and whenever Vincent wrote to his brother he would include artwork on the back of his letters. This is beautiful and perfect for all ages even adults. These books in these series make great gifts from babies to adults. They offer a way to celebrate the many gifted people who contributed over time.

Publication Date: September 3, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Quaro Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Children's Books for generously providing me with my copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#VincentvanGogh #MariaIsabelSanchezVegara #QuartoPublishingGroupFrancesLincolnChildrensBooks #NetGalley

I have no clear like or dislike for biographies, I only read about people that I love and inspire me. When I saw a picture book about one of my favourite artists - Vincent Van Gogh, was hitting the press, I knew I must read it and share his life story with my boys!

Now, I am on the fence with this book, it is a very short take on life so vast, so challenging, so deep and so intriguing. I know this is a child “safe” edition, but I would have personally loved to see more discussion regarding Van Gogh’s mental health, as picture books nowadays do tend to discuss this extremely important matter, as they should, and not shy away from it even if it is for kids.

I did like the illustrations and would have loved to see more of his art, I feel that this book is important to have as I want my boys to be exposed to his life and work, but - I will need to look into buying more books about him to supplement some of the missing yet crucial information.

I think his life is so complex and difficult, that it must have not fitted in inside this picture book, which is understandable.

Little People, Big Dreams provides another biography for young readers, this time on Vincent van Gogh. This book is written in simplistic language, great for readers of any age. It contains the main points of Vincent's life, without going into too much detail for young readers. This must be added to my classroom library for students to read and utilize during our nonfiction reading unit. Great for special education students to support their learning.

I'm a huge fan of the Little People, Big Dreams books and this was no exception, it might even be one of my favourite just because of the illustrations! They are in the Van Gogh style and are so beautiful. I've been fortunate enough to visit the Vincent van Gogh museum in Amsterdam and had the opportunity to see his work in person and this book does a great job of capturing that.

I was also happy to find out a new fact about him from this book! I didn't realize it was his brother who inspired him to paint.

Another fantastic book by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara and a great addition to any kids library.

Thank you to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara's great and inspiring series of children's books is making waves around the world. I had seen them many times but never read one. That changed when the Vincent van Gogh book caught my eye – I knew it was time to start the series! 😊

This delightful 32-page book brings readers the life of one of the world's most famous painters. It starts with his childhood and school days, touches on the hardships he faced, and concludes with his tragic end. Naturally, the book doesn’t delve into every detail or linger on van Gogh's lowest points, as it is intended for young, curious readers to inspire and motivate them. Even though I'm not so tiny anymore, I found myself inspired.

In addition to its well-written and concise content, the book features beautiful watercolor illustrations that are uniquely suited to the story. You can’t imagine this book with any other style. The pictures are extremely colorful and cheerful, often capturing more attention than the accompanying text. They are excellently painted and perfectly chosen! I highly recommend this book for little ones who love reading or art! 😊

Thank you so much, NetGallery and Frances Lincoln Children's Books, for this wonderful reading experience and for the ARC copy!

Review in Estonian (Aug 26, 2024): https://brixieblog.wordpress.com/2024/08/26/vincent-van-gogh-maria-isabel-sanchez-vegara/

It's not secret if you've read any of my reviews that I love this series. I was so excited to see Vincent van Gogh's name on the list of upcoming releases! Couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Here are my thoughts...

The watercolor illustration is absolutely stunning and really does van Gogh right. I was interested to see how the book would approach van Gogh's mental illness and perhaps even his physical ailments and diseases, and in my opinion for the age group they've done a great job of nailing the hight points and leaving the rest for a more mature mind. I'm glad they highlighted his relationship with Theo as it was so important to the success (albeit it little during his life) of van Gogh.

5/5 from me. Would recommend to any growing mind!

This is such a lovely introduction to Van Gogh. The beautiful illustrations really immerse you in his style, and I think the facts are simplified very well for children. It sticks to the very basic points of his story, celebrating his talent and his love for his brother without shying away from how troubled his life could be.

I haven't checked out any of the other books in this series, but after reading this one I'm excited to!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.)

Short and sweet, I feel like this barely scratched the surface of Vincent's life - which is expected when it's aimed at kids - however it didn't read like it was aimed at kids. I'm really torn on it as I just feel it was lacking.. something.. but I wouldn't suggest anyone avoid it or say it wasn't worth reading.

A gorgeously illustrated book briefly explaining the life of Vincent Van Gogh. Perfect for children as glosses over the darker parts of his life and focuses on his ambitions and successes. Highly recommend for a family.

I love the Little People, Big Dreams series of books. In this one - the focus on Vincent van Gogh tells a story that is both insightful and inspiring. Even with the text and story being geared for a younger generation, I learned a couple things about van Gogh's history that I hadn't known before. It felt like the key defining moments of his life were succinctly portrayed and laid out in a timeline that makes sense and gets the core points of the story across.

The end of the book really resonated - "he proved that - even when we feel a bit lost - we can find joy by doing the things we love most" and the way that sentiment is echoed in the timeline at the end - "...when we find something we love, we should follow it with all our heart." These are key principles for kids to learn - and seeing that demonstrated in the story of a famous artists life will resonate. Also, the way that mental health was addressed makes a lot of sense and lays the groundwork for awareness.

The illustrations are stunning and support the text/story on each page. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review.

Thoughts:
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is the first Little People, Big Dreams but I absolutely love van Gogh so I couldn’t resist picking this on up. It sncompasses the key points in his life from being a child to late in his life. I like the art timeline at the beginning and that the illustrations have thick strokes like he was known for. I personally loved the presence of the A Starry Night images used twice (since it’s my personal favourite and the sunflowers throughout as its what he’s most well known for is a great touch.

Favourite Quote:
"And though it took time for the world to recognize his talent, little Vincent continued to express his feelings with every single brushstroke. He proved that even when we feel a bit lost-we can find ioy by doing the things We love most."

I love reading these books to my daughter, its such a good way of explaining important historical figures to her in a way that is understandable for a young audience. I would highly recommend these and will be keeping my eyes out for similar books in the future

The illustrations for this one are just too good. But the writing is not up to the standard I was expecting. I've read a handful of books from this series, so the way this book talks about the life of Gogh didn't feel anywhere near adequate or appropriate to represent his life.

"For him, painting wasn’t about making pretty pictures--it was about showing how he felt."

The people who appreciate art know the name. Vincent Van Gogh.

This book is a short biography of Van Gogh for children. It talks about his childhood, his brother Theo and how Vincent started his journey to be a painter.

I am a 26 year old adult and this is a children’s book. I adore books that are written for children. I want children to walk into this magical world of reading and I want them to know about art, history and artists. Here I am talking about this book from a child's perspective. Would I have been happy if I had read a book like this in my childhood? Yes. So this book would be useful for children to know Van Gogh on a primary level.

It's a pretty book. It has illustrations of Van Gogh's paintings. The book is colorful and the sentences are easy to read which is suitable for kids.

This book has been sent to me by #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you #netgalley. #VincentVanGogh

A gorgeously illustrated book that presents Van Gogh's life and work in a way that is accessible to children.

I read this with my four year old and my nine year old who both enjoyed it. My eldest loved recognising Van Gogh's paintings integrated in the illustrations, which added an extra level of enjoyment.

A recommended read for fans of Van Gogh and fun educational read for children.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing group for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another great offering from author Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara....she really does a super job of explaining a life of a real historical figure, in prose that a child can understand. And this adult learned something too....always a plus! The illustrator did a great job too.....fun to see some of van Gogh's work/style incorporated too. The color scheme worked really well. This is another great book in a great series! Well done!
I received a digital ARC from Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Children's Books via NetGalley for review purposes.

What a great kids book to give you the most important information in an easy way to understand for kids - very factual (without all the boring bits) and some great illustrations to help you understand what Vincent van Gogh's life and work was like.

Enjoyed this and pleased to see there are a lot more in the series. Look forward to reading some more. Would thoroughly recommend for young children.

I think these books are brilliant. Biographies made approachable for young elementary students make me happy. The illustrations are gorgeous and vibrant. The approach to mental health is excellent. I want to add the whole collection to my library as I think they can help students discover biography as a genre and be more exposed to historical figures that are part of our collective culture.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group- Francis Lincoln Children's Books and Net Galley for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley for review purposes.
I loved this book so much, and learned some things about Vincent that I did not know. The illustrative style is beautiful and seems to be modeled after Van Gogh’s artistic style. His mental illness is also discussed in a way that is acceptable for young children.

First of all, Thank You Netgalley for the ARC granted. I love books that teaches story of the world or public personalities for children , for it can be in sweet and inspring way even for adults. And altough it's ate for him to know about it, Van Gogh finally got his acknowlegdment from his art.