Member Reviews

Like other books in this series, it is a fun little introduction to inspiring people. Definitely a great way to introduce kids to biographies and a nice read for adults too. I would recommend all the books in this series.

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Sanchez Vergara does it gain! I love the simple biographies and their illustrations. For this book I also love that Turing's homosexuality was addressed.

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Such a cute style in this book. I love all of these books. This was such an interesting story about Alan Turing. Learning about his life was fascinating.

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I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ebook.

Alan Turing is another great book in the Little People Big Dreams series. I was curious as to how Turing's sad life will translate to a children's book and I wasn't disappointed. It is a good book to introduce him to young readers.

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Sadly, I was unable to download this book in time before it was archived and this I was not able to either read or review it. My apologies.

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Really enjoyed this. I liked the fact that the Alan Turing’s personal life and his professional life were addressed. This was a great stimulus for discussion with my children,

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Another brilliant book! I've yet to find a LPBD that both me and the girl child don't love. These books are wonderful gateways into discovering wonderful achievements and celebrating everyone's differences - I couldn't recommend the whole series strongly enough!

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A good introduction to the life and accomplishments of Alan Turing for early readers. The bold, bright illustrations compliment the text nicely, and the text covers the more difficult aspects of his life in an age appropriate way, and will lead to further discussion. Love this series!

#AlanTuring #NetGalley

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Sanchez Vegara's Alan Turing explores the life of one of the world's most talented computer scientists. Enamoured by numbers at a young age, Turing would go on to crack the Enigma code during World War II. I appreciate that the author handled certain parts of Turing's life with gentleness and compassion. That's been the case with many of the people who've been covered in this series. At the end is a section with more detailed information on Turing's life, suitable for older readers. Inspirational and educational both, this entire series is great, and full of delightful art to engage younger audiences!

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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Another winner in the Little People, Big Dreams series. I have to say that I did not know who Alan Turing was, so I am glad that this important person has been included in this series. Alan was a shy quiet young man who loved numbers. He fell in love with a friend, Christopher, but unfortunately he died young and this broke Alan's heart. Alan went to university and dreamed and designed a machine that could calculate anything. Alan worked with other scientists to break the code of the enigma machine which helped defeat the nazis in WWII. Because Alan was a homosexual, he never got the credit he deserved and suffered from a lot of persecution. This was handled simply and honestly in the book. The simple illustrations added to this book and helped to portray the message of Alan Turing, the father of computer science. I always recommend this series to teachers, schools and libraries. The messages of being yourself, following your dreams, not giving up are important to children and to show them people who did just that is important

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This is such a beautiful book and a beautiful series. I wanted to learn more about Alan and as someone local to where he grew up I was even more interested! I really wish I’d had these books when I was a kid!

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'Alan Turing' by Ma Isabel Sanchez Vegara with illustrations by Ashling Lindsay is the story of the man who helped break the Nazi code and win the war.

Alan Turing grew up in England with his friend Christopher. When Christopher died, Alan threw himself into his work of creating a computing machine. Alan Turing did great work for England, and in return was not recognized until many years after his life.

Alan Turing's story is a difficult one, so I wondered how they would approach it for children. It works, but there are odd gaps. It's obvious in the book that Alan loves Christopher and is gay, but details are a bit missing, as they probably should have been. The illustrations are lovely and befitting this man's life.

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

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Alan Turing by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara is another fantastic children's book in the Little People, Big Dreams series.

This one is about Alan Turing who broke the Enigma code during WWII. I am so glad they did this book and he was not forgotten. Alan had a tough life but played an important part in WWII.
This lovely book is very colourful throughout and I found this little book full of easy to read, with great Illustrations throughout this small book.

It's one you should definitely buy for your little readers so they can learn about this man. Especially as this book includes extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of Alan Turing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group/ Frances Lincoln Children's books for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

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Alan Turning by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens
Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Biographies & Memoirs | Children's Nonfiction
Pub Date 07 Apr 2020 | Archive Date 23 Mar 2020
Review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3293937893


A book about the now famous Alan Turing who broke the Enigma code during WW II. As the book is aimed at children it is not very long and includes illustrations like the red of the Little People Big Dreams series.

Though this is a quick read it does give us a lot of understanding about Turing in just 17 pages. I am extremely glad that it didn't shy away from Turing's sexuality however I do think it glossed over his death. In fact Turing's death is not mentioned at all. I understand that suicide is a difficult subject to write for children but it could have read simply "Alan died at the age of 32" But this was omitted.

Also it may have been worth mentioning that he made friends with those whom he worked with. Unfortunately there seemed to be a fair few grammatical errors but I am not an expert on grammar.

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I love the Little People Big Dreams series and this Alan Turing edition did not disappoint.

The book begins with a young Alan leaving his parents behind in London to go to boarding school. A shy boy, he learns how to read by himself, and is brilliant at Maths. I liked that the book didn't shy away from the fact that Turing was gay by including the story of his first love Christopher. It explains how Alan Turing's mathematical genius helped to crack the Enigma code, which was used by Germans, and helped to save lives during the Second World War.

Acknowledging the fact that the British government's treatment of Turing because of his homosexuality was wrong, something they later apologised for, was also handled in a sensitive way. This book is a positive representation of an inspirational role model for young children - I thought it was easy to understand and beautifully illustrated.

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Alan Turing is a new biography for young readers in the Little People, Big Dreams series. I've reviewed a number of these titles and all of them are delightful and exuberant little books which cover the lives of famous cultural, science, arts, and innovative icons while maintaining an age-appropriate level of detail.

Released 7th April 2020 by Quarto on their Frances Lincoln imprint, it's 32 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

The text by Isabel Sánchez Vegara is well written in clear and accessible language. The art by Linzie Hunter is appealing and colorful and supports the text very well. The art is rich in small subtle details which bear a closer look (like the books, birds, and more which appear throughout). I love to see so many kids and adults reading in the illustrations! I also appreciated the paraphrased Turing quotes in the text.

Well written and appealing, I am really enjoying all of these little books. This one is a worthy addition.

Five stars. This would make a superlative reading circle book, classroom library book, or gift. Alan Turing was and a brilliant and unique man with a prodigious intellect and this little book is a nice introduction to his life and work for the youngest generation.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Note: I received an early eARC and in my copy of the material, there was a formatting error which caused the timeline biography and artist credits to be switched with an earlier book in the series (Astrid Lindgren). This will presumably be corrected in the final published version.

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Wonderful tribute to Alan Turing's great accomplishments, while also acknowledging his horribly unjust treatment by the British government at that time. I love that children can discover his story in this way. It's not a exactly a story with a happy ending, and the author doesn't shy away from the ugly truths Alan Turing had to confront, but does so in a way that is appropriate for young readers. The illustrations are beautiful, with a lot of small details and a colorful elegance that fits the setting of the story and is perfect to draw the attention of its young audience too.

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I was curious to read a children's book about Alan Turing's life! And I discovered a sad, yet empowering story.
He was the boy who grew up away from home. He was the teenager who lost too early a beloved friend. He was the scientist whose life was changed by war. He was the genius who invented the decoding machine and thus helped end it. And he was also the man mistreated for personal choices.
The story of Alan Turing holds many lessons for young children. The one I like the most: "those who can imagine anything, can create the impossible".
Thank you to Net Galley and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing me with an e-book copy in exchange for my honest review!

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I am giving this book 2 stars based on the artwork. The writing is terrible. It reads like a very poorly written book report.by someone who had only skimmed the book. Just about every aspect of this book could have been approached and written better.

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I have to admit I knew very little of Alan Turing before reading this book, despite having watched films he is at the centre of before! Now I feel I know quite a bit!

I love the 'Little People Big Dreams' series as it makes the lives of significant figures in history accessible to very young readers. With simple language, clear pictures and short passages of writing, these little books impart a lot of information using few words.

This would be a great addition to any school library or to use when learning about writing biographies of famous figures.

Usually, the child-friendly stories are accompanied by photos and a short history aimed at older readers. The eARC I received had a history of Astrid Lindgren so I cannot comment on how much more detail was added should children have questions or comments after reading.

I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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