Amanda Gorman - Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara
ILLUSTRATOR: Queenbe Monyei
SERIES: Little People, BIG DREAMS, #75
GENRE: Children's Picture Book, Biography.
PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2022
RATING: 4.25 stars.

If you still haven’t heard of Amanda Gorman, you have certainly been living with your head under a rock. This talented young poet stole the hearts of the world with her captivating rendition of her own poem, “The Hill We Climb”, at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. I am not into poetry at all, and yet I was enchanted by this young woman and the way she recited her spoken poem with confidence and exuberance.

This little book introduces little readers to the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate of the USA. Though the end of the book includes a detailed glimpse into her life (including her family, her education and her achievements), the main story begins from Amanda’s schooling and how she first became fascinated by poetry. She didn’t allow her speech impediment to stop her but worked hard to overcome the difficulties she faced. Her life is definitely an inspiration for youngsters all over. I loved to see that Amanda too is an avid reader.

While I adore Amanda Gorman, and hence by extension, I enjoyed the book, I didn’t like the illustrations. They are too simplistic, which isn’t a flaw by itself but this kind of sketching fails to create enthusiasm while reading the book. Furthermore, I was distracted by the odd style of colouring the character’s noses.

Still, illustrations aren’t the reason you would pick this book up. The only reason to go for this is: Amanda Gorman. And that is one heck of a good reason.

Definitely recommended. This is a worthy addition to the “Little People, Big Dreams” series.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC of “Amanda Gorman”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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