Vegara, Isabel Sanchez (text); Munro, Elisa (illus). (translated by Emma Martinez), Marie Curie (Little People, Big Dreams), Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 22 Feb 2017, 32 pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781847809612
This beautifully presented book, with its soft, double-paged illustrations, gives a brief outline of the life of Marie Curie. The main text, spread over 26 pages, is about 400 words and so the reader gets only an essence of Marie’s story. It tells of her early interest in science, having to move to Paris to attend university, meeting Pierre, discovering radium and polonium (and its use during war to help soldiers), and her two Nobel prizes. For more sophisticated readers there is a slightly more detailed story, with a photographic timeline, at the end of the book with some information about further books to read. A link to the Parisian Marie Curie laboratory and office finishes that section. This book is an introduction to Marie Curie for younger readers with much room for further discussion about the realities of her life and death. Other books in the series include ones on Amelia Earhart and Agatha Christie.
Reviewed by Pam Harvey
