Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Author & Illustrators

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara Books

Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, born in Barcelona, Spain, is a writer and creative director in constant search of new concepts for children’s books. Working for more than fifteen years for clients in top advertising agencies, her books combine creativity with learning, aiming to establish a new and fresh relationship between children and pop culture.

Ada Lovelace (Little People, Big Dreams)

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara & Zafouko Yamamoto

Non-fiction

Ada Lovelace was one of the world’s first computer programmers. Growing up in a time when girls were not encouraged to pursue maths or science, Ada combined her passion for STEM and her big imagination to dream the world’s first computer program. This illustrated picture book retells Ada’s inspirational life and includes extra facts and a biographical timeline with historical images.

David Attenborough (Little People, Big Dreams)

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara & Mikyo Noh

Non-fiction, Picturebook

Little David grew up in Leicester on the campus of a university, where his father was a professor. As a child, he spent hours in the science library , collating his own specimens and creating a mini animal museum. When he was old enough to go to university, he studied science and zoology – but what he wanted most of all was to be close to the animals he was studying.

So, he started working in television, visiting animals in their natural habitats and telling the world the untold stories of these animals. Little David went on to become one of the most celebrated environmentalists on the planet , teaching generation after generation about the importance of the natural world.

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 broadcaster’s life.

Rosalind Franklin (Little People, Big Dreams)

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara & Naomi Wilkinson

Non-fiction, Picturebook

Little Rosalind was born in London to a Jewish family who valued education and public service, and as she grew up her huge intellectual abilities were drawn into the study of science.

Having studied physics and chemistry at Cambridge University, Rosalind moved to Paris to perfect her life’s work in X-ray crystallography. She then moved back to King’s College London, where she would work on finding the structure of DNA with Maurice Wilkins.

It was Rosalind’s “photo 51” that was used by Wilkins to create the first ever double helix DNA model with Francis Crick, although he did not credit for her work due to a falling out between the two, and her work went unacknowledged until after her death.

Amelia Earhart (Little People, Big Dreams)

Maria Diamantes & Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

Non-fiction

Part of the Little People, Big Dreams series, this book provides a simple biography of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly a plane all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, from her early childhood to her first flying lesson and on to her world famous career as a pilot.

Kamala Harris (Little People, Big Dreams)

Lauren Semmer & Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

Picturebook

Discover the incredible life of Kamala Harris, the first woman, first Black person, and first South Asian American to be elected vice president of the USA. Little Kamala used to accompany her parents to civil rights marches in California, strapped into her pushchair so she wouldn’t get lost. From an early age, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer to help people in need. Kamala’s life was full of firsts, including becoming the first woman, Black woman, and South Asian American to be elected vice president. As Kamala stated to little girls everywhere in her speech – she may be the first but she won’t be the last. This powerful 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 politician’s life.

Martin Luther King, Jr (Little People, Big Dreams)

Mai Ly Degnanan & Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

Picturebook

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Martin Luther King Jr., the inspiring minister and civil rights activist.

Little Martin grew up in a family of preachers: his dad was a preacher, his uncle was a preacher, his grandfather was a preacher… so maybe he’d become a great preacher too. One day, a friend invited him to play at his house. Martin was shocked when his mother wouldn’t let him in because he was black. That day he realized there was something terribly unfair going on. Martin believed that no one should remain silent and accept something if it’s wrong. And he promised himself that – when he grew up – he’d fight injustice with the most powerful weapon of all: words. 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 inspiring activist’s life.

Harriet Tubman (Little People, Big Dreams)

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara & Pili Aguado

Picturebook

Part of the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad conductor who ‘never lost a single passenger.’

Little Harriet was born into slavery on a plantation in Maryland. Though life was hard, Harriet persisted. She used all of her strength and bravery to escape slavery and journey north on the Underground Railroad. Harriet made the dangerous mission back to the South many times, fighting her whole life to bring others with her to freedom. 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 abolitionist’s life.

Pele (Little People, Big Dreams)

Camila Rosa & Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

Picturebook

Pelé by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara is one of the books in the best-selling series, Little People, BIG DREAMS. These books explore the lives of people who achieved great things, but focus on when they started out as children with a dream.

This book looks at one of the greatest footballers of all time, Pelé – Brazil’s all-time King of Football. It is perhaps different from other books about him as it highlights not only his incredible football skills, but his work off the pitch helping those who needed it most. The book traces his early life from growing up on the poverty-stricken streets of Rio’s suburbs, to becoming a UNESCO goodwill ambassador and scoring over 1000 goals as a professional footballer. Readers will enjoy reading about Pelé’s childhood memories of playing football with a ball made from a sock stuffed with newspapers and tied with string. They will learn how at sixteen he was selected to play for his national team in the World Cup and that his early dream of leading his country to victory was realised as that year Brazil won the World Cup for the first time ever.

The book goes on to show that Pelé was an inspirational hero off the pitch too, working to unite people through the game and to give his voice to the underprivileged. The stylish illustrations will appeal to children through their use of bold lines and strong colours. At the back of the book there is a photographic timeline and a detailed biography of the man who has been described as the greatest footballer who has ever lived. Inherent in the book is the inspiring message about dreaming big and using given talents and skills for the benefit of others.