I thought this was such a great little biography of Alan Turing. He was one of the smartest men out there who helped win WWII with his machine to help crack codes and it was sad how his life turned out in the end. I hope kids can start learning a little bit about him now and when they get older read more about him.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is another fantastic installment in the Little People Big Dreams series. This time it is about Alan Turing whos amazing mathematical mind played such a huge role in code breaking and stopping the war.
I liked how it included that Alan was homosexual and how unfairly he was treated for being this way. It shows children being different is their right and that the world has changed so much and that they can help to keep on changing it for the better by following their own hopes and dreams.

This is beautifully written and illustrated. It is great to see a child-friendly book written about Alan Turing that highlights his role in British history and mathematical history.
I can imagine this to be a great source of inspiration to young people who feel they don't fit in or feel more comfortable alone rather than in large groups of peers. The relationship between Alan and Christopher as first loves is sensitively and appropriately explained.
This is a fantastic book in the series and I would not hesitate to recommend it to UKS2 children.

Another just lovely addition to the Little People Big Dreams series. I really loved the use of pops of colors in the illustrations in this one.

I really enjoyed this peek into Alan Turing's life. I liked that the book didn't shy away from any of the aspects of his life. The art was also very cute.

Page 7 had some typos and sentences that needed more clarification, overall an interesting book. The end of the book talked about Pippi Longstocking’s creator and not Alan Turing. Thanks for the review copy.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and think it uses both the perfect amount of u formation, while not overloading it. The facts about Alan Turing that it chose to include such as his relationship with Christopher, and the eventual consequence of his sexuality was a great way to inform children of some of the not so nice things in history, without scaring them. Could not recommend this book enough and I would love to read more from the series of other historical figures

I love the picture books that Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara does. They are perfect for little children.
This one is a picture book that introduces the little readers to the incredible life of the igenius code cracker and father of the theoretical computer science and A. I. , Alan Turing.
It is written in simple sentences, which are perfect for the little ones and it offers them inspiring messages.
I love how quirky the illustrations are.

Not my favorite of this series, great notes of importance from Alan's life but some led to unanswered questions one might have. Also there were quite a few errors in this digital copy - grammar, sentence structure and the bio timeline in back was the one for Astrid Lindgren. I received this as a digital copy for review from NetGalley.

In human endeavour to improve science, there have been many heroes, many of whom are less famous.
Alan Turing is one such scientific mind.
He help build basic of first computer.
He suffered due to draconian laws and beliefs prevelent at that time.
But still he did what he loved. He studied and researched continuously.
Illustrations are very good. Writing is simple.
These minaiaturised biographies are very beautiful way to know legends.
I am happy to know there are many more of such illustrated biographies and I will like to read them all.

Another small book for children with a big message told with her usual skill by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara. This, Little People, Big Dreams series just gets stronger with each new title I manage to read.
I would without hesitation buy the set. The share in simple sentences the heart of what makes someone special and enhances biography to a creative art.
What I like best is the desire it generates to want to learn more and read more widely to understand the person.
Alan Turing has become a name most adults now recognise due to Enigma and the recent successful movie “The Imitation Game” 2014. I knew nothing of his work and life growing up in the 1970’s.
Other movies and TV dramas were produced from the mid 1990’s but again these mostly passed me by.
So I feel all kids need to have shared the life story of this quiet and often lonely man with them.
Linzie Hunter’s illustrations add to this brilliant book with good use of reds and browns to paint the picture and make it another unique backdrop.
Alan was a shy and withdrawn lad; with time on his own thinking rather than talking and not sociable. He was the type of child who was easily passed over and not considered ready to make a contribution or amount to anything. But as the author writes: “But sometimes that’s just the kind of people who do the things no one can imagine.”
Misunderstood by society’s narrow thinking, despite his contribution to computers and the war in saving countless lives. We may think such prejudices are a thing of the past in our more modern liberal thinking but there remain people passed over, dismissed and hounded for being different from us. Let Alan’s story challenged today’s bullying and social media trolls to ensure we have really moved into the 21st century.

Alan Turing was born in London. Sent away from his parents at a young age to boarding school where he was a shy little boy and not noticed by anyone. It is this premise that even a shy little boy can do great things. He was strong in his studies with Math and science. As a young man he was not known for his efforts to defeat the Nazis by defeating Enigma a code machine. A machine that was built by the Nazi's. It was Turing knowledge in math that he was able to build a machine that London was able to solve the riddles that ultimately won the war.

However, my concern in reading this board book for toddlers that it expressed Turing sexuality. Not sure why toddlers need to be exposed to that and I would not recommend this book to any children I know for that reason. Children should be taught to be kind to others because they are people, not because of their sexuality or how different they are.

A Special Thank you to Quartro Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

I have read many a book from this series and love how empowering, inspiring, and educational they are.

Alan Turing was a smart boy who loved maths and science. At University, he dreamed of a machine that could calculate anything calculable - his design was the brainchild of the computers we use today. During the war, he developed a machine that could decipher the Nazi code, helping to end the war and save hundreds of lives. Despite this incredible achievement, Alan was cast out for being a gay man and it wasn't until 50 years had passed that the government apologised for their treatment.

This book has a couple of distinct morals. The first is that anything is possible. The second is that sexuality does not define a person or make them wrong. Alan was cast out for being gay and was very miserable at his treatment. He was alive during a time of great prejudice and probably suffered a great deal. The book also shows that these days, people are much more open and accepting. It's important for children to understand the history but it's also important to highlight how much the world has changed for the better.

The only thing I would have liked with this one was a bit more information about Alan's life after the war.

The story of Alan Turing is beautifully told in this new title in the Little People, Big Dreams series.  Nothing is glossed over as the story is told not only about the breaking of the Engima code but also Turing's being gay and the way that he was treated in England.


Readers of this title who may feel a bit alone or different will be encouraged by learning about all that Alan did, after he faced the loss of a person very important to him.  This book could be a great jumping off point for talking with a child.


Alan's story is told in a matter of fact style.  The illustrations are lovely, expressive and greatly enhance the text.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read a book in one of my favorite series.

Like all of this series, this is a brief look into the life of someone famous. In this case, Alan Turing is famous for two things, for breaking the enigma code, and for being gay.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/alan-turing-little-lives.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5604" />

It is refreshing how this is dealt with, in a kids picture book. It is not ignored, just talked about as a matter of course. Of course they don't say what the chemical he had to take that made him take his own life. But it is sweet that it includes his first love.

Cute introduction to Alan Turning's life.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Turing is an important historical figure, but his story really cannot be successfully simplified and sanitized in a way that makes it appropriate for a children's picture book.

Although I liked this book about Alan Turing, especially as it mentioned vaguely what happened to him after the war, I felt it was perhaps a bit too brief. I liked the illustrations though.

I do enjoy the books in this series and I am always delighted when a new book is released.

This one is on Alan Turing, a man who was a vital part in helping the Allies win the Second World War.

I did like that the author touched on what happened to him after the war and going in to this in depth would not be appropriate for a children's book but I did think the book was quite brief, and the images were not as nice as in some of the other books so it is just 4 stars from me for this one.

More than anything I love the fact that this LPBD did not shy away from Alan's identity and included it in the story. It's so important for children to learn that gay people are just like them - people with the potential for greatness.

Lovely book that could use some editing

Another book of the "Little People Big Dreams" series. I had read about Alan Turing before and really enjoyed this book. The illustrations are lovely, except for some very stereotypical depictions of gay men on the secod to last page. This book deals with a number of issues, namely war, death and homosexuality. I do think that children will ask some questions after this book - some things are mentioned in passing and might leave children wanting more information. For example, Alan's friend Christopher dies, which is mentioned in passing in one sentence. What happened, do people just die like that? Also, the homosexuality seems to be mentioned too quickly and without any explanation. Finally, there are a number of grammatical errors in this book, which seems like the editing was done hastily. I think if this book receives some more editing it could be a valuable and inspiring childrens book!