This is a lovely short picture book biography about Maria Montessori. The pictures are vivid and engaging. The text is simple but concise. The students at my Montessori school are going to love this one.

This book is a great addition to the „Little People, Big Dreams“ series. The illustrations are adorable and the story is told in an uncomplicated language that’s perfect for younger kids.
I’d recommend it.

For this book:
I thought I fairly knew who she was but this picture book, in a few short pages, proved me wrong! Both my kids attended Montessori preschools for a couple of years before we moved them to one that was closer by. We and they enjoyed their time at these schools; as do so many other kids across the world. Maria Montessori, before she developed this worldwide network of schools was the first girl in Italy to study medicine …..:) and I learned this from this LPBD book!

In Summary: (for all the books featured today)
These books are adorable, admirable, and works of art all rolled together with a dose of inspiration for the youngest audiences! Buy the whole set for that little one you know 🙂

I know I am going use these as gifts in the future. And work on reading the others in the series as well soon.

Rating: A; and the board books are for up to 5 years of age while the picture books are for 5 to 8 year olds.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) for the eARCs of the above books All reviews include my honest opinions of the books.

A scrappy little girl loves to learn, but not the way the boring teachers do it. She goes on to become a doctor, but when she’s put in charge of kids who can’t seem to learn, she comes up with a system that works, though at first it seems to consist of letting the kids do it themselves.
I’ve read most of the entries in this series, but this is only the second one where the person was unknown to me (ironically, I can’t remember who the first one was). Maybe that made it a little better, as this lady’s story is indeed inspiring.

Maria Montessori is an awesome addition to the Little People, BIG DREAMS series! I was familiar with the Montessori method of education but I didn’t know Maria’s story. I can’t say it enough, I LOVE this Little People series! These nonfiction stories are inspiring and informative for preschoolers.
Thank you so much to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for access to these adorable titles!

This is a small book for young children about a little girl who worked hard to achieve her goals despite experiencing disadvantages for being female. She first became a doctor and later an incredible teacher with ground breaking ideas. Maria Montessori created new, child-focused learning methods and influenced our teaching system until this day. In a few sentences per spread the life of Maria Montessori is narrated in child friendly language. The illustrations are colorful and cute. All in all, an enjoyable and inspiring book.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am already a huge fan of the Little People Big Dreams series and this one does not disappoint.

As a teacher, I have come across the Montessori schools in research I have carried out and was interested to learn more about the person who started it all.

Told in the now familiar style of a clear, illustrated story of the life of Maria Montessori and some of the challenges she faced, the pictures and clear uncomplicated language make her story accessible to readers of all ages.

I would highly recommend this series to any young reader who has an interest in the lives of people who have influenced the world we live in today.

Many thanks to the publishers for granting me access to this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As expected, this is another great book from the Little People, BIG DREAMS series. The illustrations are beautiful and delicate. The story is nice and easy to follow for young readers, while telling a lot about Maria Montessori. I'm so glad I read it! I knew she developed the Montessori method, but I had no idea she was such an inspiring and smart person.

'Maria Montessori' by Isabel Sanchez Vegara with illustrations by Raquel Martín is about the pioneering teacher and researcher and told in board book format.

Maria Montessori grew up in Italy in a time when girls didn't have the same educational opportunities as boys, but that didn't stop her. She was the first woman in Italy to study medicine. She used what she knew to help children and create good learning environments.

I didn't know much about this person, but thanks to this series, I'd like to learn more. The illustrations are colorful and nice. I like this series.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Children's Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Isabel Sanchez Vegara’s biography of Maria Montessori, published this week, is the latest installment in the fantastic Little People, Big Dreams series. If you haven’t read any of the books in the series so far, you can start with this one!

The Montessori method of teaching has become increasingly well-known in recent years, with Montessori schools and preschools popping up around the world (their popularity no doubt increased further by the high profile Montessori pupil Prince George!)

The book shines a light on the life of Maria Montessori, starting from her childhood in Italy in the 1870s, where she found her thirst for learning stifled by the traditional schooling methods, and describes how she broke through barriers to achieve her dreams, for instance becoming the first girl in Italy to study medicine. It also details her experiences working with disabled children, who at the time were treated as if they were ill, the founding of her Children’s Homes, and the growing internatonal recognition of her revolutionary teaching methods.

The illustrations are colourful, friendly and show great attention to detail.

I would highly recommend this picture book to all Montessori educators as well as any parents or teachers who want to introduce their children to a truly inspirational female role model.

This is one of the loveliest in this range, a simple story told with stunning artwork. It’s positive, but doesn’t shy away from difficulties faced by Maria. Wonderful.

Amazing and. Empowering book for girls, teens and women!
How beautiful it was ilustrated too.
Enjoyed this gem a lot!
Maria was such an inspiration!

This was such an interesting person to include in this biography series. My daughter, age 5, asked several questions about why Maria was not allowed to be with the men during her schooling, which led to further discussion beyond the story. This included information about her teaching methods and her journey that led her there. Neat person to have a biography over.

Despite going to a Montessori preschool for 3 years, I really didn't know much about Maria before reading this book, and it piqued my interest to learn more!

Interesting person in history. Great illustrations to go with the story of the person. Good read with kids.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was another in a series of which I've read and reviewed several, nearly all of them positively. This is about a woman who brought a fresh perspective to education, starting with children who had some sort of mental impairment. Back in her day (her real work began at the turn of the century) these children were not well-cared-for and were written-off in terms of assessing their capabilities and futures. Montessori changed this and showed that with the right stimuli, these children had capacity far beyond what they were typically consigned to in life.

The book doesn't cover everything. Notably missing is Montessori's own child which she had 'out of wedlock' as it used to be called. She chose to remain a single mom because had she married the father, she would have been expected to give up her work, which she refused to do. Is this something that very young children need to know? I guess that's up to the parent/guardian and what they think their child can handle, but it's not necessary to include it in a book like this, although her son did end-up assisting her in her work when he grew older.

The book was informative, well-illustrated, and told a good - and true! - story. I commend it as a worthy read.

I love this series! It's wonderful the topics you can further your knowledge on through this series of picture books! I've always seen Montessori schools around and never really known much about them, let alone that they were founded by a woman!

Since this is a picture book it does not overwhelm the reader with facts about Maria Montessori but instead highlights key events in her life: how she worked with the disabled and was the first woman to go to medical school in Italy! (Go Maria!)

This picture book uses wonderful illustrations to showcase a brief but wonderful insight in to Maria Montessori's life that should easily engage young children.


Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for making this book available for an honest review.

*The little bio in my copy of this book is actually about Muhammad Ali not Maria Montessori but I'm sure that'll be fixed prior to publication.

I love "Maria Montessori" from the Little People, Big Dreams series. As expected, wonderful illustrations with an interesting Montessori's mini bio for children. This is probably one of the easier reads in this series for little kids as they could easily relate themselves to the text- using fun and innovative ways to learn.

I don't know what happened here, but this book is pretty weak. Some of the issues may stem from it being an ARC (there's some text on one of the pages that appears pretty random, and it's placed where it's almost unreadable... and the biographical information at the back is about Muhammad Ali!), but there are some issues with the writing itself (which could be translation problems) and I really wasn't a fan of the illustrations.

While I like the idea of this series, I've only really liked one of the three books I've read in it so far. Maybe these just aren't for me.

Little People, Big Dreams is a fantastic children's book series that features some pretty awesome people from history for our kids to look up to. I like that this book in the series highlighted Maria Montessori, one of the biggest innovators in early childhood education. The book introduces kids to Maria Montessori's life and how she came to work in the field of education. I think many kids who have a tough time in a traditional school setting sitting still and writing all day would be inspired by Montessori's story and how she thought learning should be hands on. I recommend this book to any kid. These are stories that need to be heard.