Josephine Baker

I never knew about Josephine Baker. I am so glad I know of her now. The colors of this book were striking and beautiful. Learning about a strong women in a time when strong women (especially women of color) were looked down on its so great to hear of women like Josephine who fought for civil rights. This is a great book for girls to learn about a beautiful and fascinating woman form history.

Josephine Baker is a children's biography of entertainer and activist, Josephine Baker and looks at her life and achievements. It showcases her determination, her activism and her inability to back down in the face of adversity. She's a strong woman who spends her life promoting equality.

A simplistic biography for younger readers, Josephine Baker gives the highlights of the subject's life from her earliest achievements up until later in her life. There's little detail given to enhance the text (although you do get some from the corresponding illustrations) but really this would be an introduction text for young readers who might then consider looking for more comprehensive texts.

The illustrations are simple, bright and colourful and really highlight Josephine's achievements. They're gorgeous to look at and explore in more depth.

I love how this particular book celebrates Josephine's entertainment career, her activism and work during the war, as well as her strong stance on equality for people of all colours. This book sends a wonderful message to young readers.

Such an incredible story about an amazing woman.
Born to dance and entertain but feeling different being trapped in the wrong skin colour.
Nothing to do with what she was taught but by what she observed and heard.
Not itchy feet or restless legs but an innate ability to dance and perform. To be offered a chance to flourish in a new country where race and being different no longer mattered. Where, she was allowed to herself and fulfil her talent.
This author has championed this series by taking the humble stories of individuals who made real differences by their lives, ambition and successes.
Maria, just shares the basic facts. With delightful illustrations, I love the sparkles in Josephine’s hair.
Simple stories become exceptional because this lady Josephine Baker never forgot her past; did not allow it to fester and make the negativity undermine the rest of her life.
It made her more determined, more outrageous in her response to life. Above all it demonstrated her character and one who was not destined to live in her past but press on and fashion a remarkable future.

Surprisingly enough, given my history with the rest of this series (and, in particular, the board books), I actually kind of like this one. The stylized illustrations and simple text work well together to create a condensed biography of Josephine Baker, a trailblazer and all-around interesting person.

This is perfectly adequate for the age group, but older children who pick this up might find themselves wanting more. I'd be interested to read the full version at some point and see how it compares to this.

***Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I love these board book bios! Getting young children to learn about famous people in history is smart and these little books make it fun!

Thank you for the opportunity of reviewing this.
I love learning about new personalities that were influencial in the past. I belive that knowing how far they went when possibilities were not the same is very inspiring!
I even went to YouTube to watch some Josephine Videos!
Ilustrations were beauy as always with this collection!

Josephine Baker is a true hero and a legend, a great inspiration for all, wonderfully illustrated and written to inspire little people. In current climate even better to inspire the next generation of young women, a great book series, every book is wonderful

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Quarto Publishing’s new board book version of this intriguing bio for kids is fabulous! It’s part of the instructive Little People, BIG DREAMS series. Baker comes to glorious life through engaging text and gorgeous illustrations. She triumphed over childhood poverty and racial inequality to star on stage and screen, with a secret stint as an Allied spy and a compassionate philanthropic heart. 5 of 5 Glittering Stars!

Pub Date 06 Aug 2019.

Grateful to Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Children’s, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions ate mine.

#JosephineBaker #NetGalley

I absolutely love the Little People Big Dreams series. We homeschool and my 5 year old loves when we find these books at the library or get an ARC on NetGalley. I was SO excited to see they began this "My First" series! Perfect for even younger learners - less words, simple pictures, awesome message! This series will be great to read with my 5 and 2 year old. A great way to introduce your kids to important people and encourage them to learn more about people they particularly like. After reading this my 5 year old has asked me to find more books on Josephine Baker!

Another fabulous book in this gorgeous series of books. The book was beautifully written and illustrated and I enjoyed it immensely!

A very brief life of the star of old, that opens the eyes to countless possibilities, mentioning her having a banana skirt, being a spy, being a mother to a dozen, and so on – and never going anywhere with them. It's a better look at a life than some in this series, but it really is very abrupt, and needs more flesh on it, whatever the age of the intended reader.

Note:- there seems to be two versions of this book, a regular biography, and this board book version with much less text. What I learnt most was that there was so much more to tell. Clearly the more mature edition is going to be a lot more to my taste.

This is a cute book with wonderful illustrations. It gives a brief overview into Josephine Baker's life. I do wish it had gone into more detail. For someone who did so much in get life, it felt a little rushed to fit the evertthing into so few pages.

This series is always a joy to read, it’s a really nice introduction to well known people for little children. Of course the plot is always a little bit fast but that’s to be expected and it’s totally understandable.
It was nice to learn more about Josephine Baker, an incredible dancer who also had an active role in WWII and later fought against racism. She's definitely a role model that children can look up to!

Pretty artwork and a lovely story with a great focus on civil rights while still showing Josephine Baker as a unique and fun-loving person. A great book to inspire kids to be kind, strong, individual and generally fabulous.

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions.

I loved this little board book! This was a great biographical sneak peek into JB's life for the littlest of us readers.

Another great book to the diverse series of Little People BIG DREAMS.
Josephine Baker was a professional dancer, an actress, a mother and civil rights activist. This book gave examples of these different aspects of her life.
The illustrations are bright and colorful. This is a super quick read as this story hits on the highlights of Ms. Bakers life.
Thanks NetGalley for the ACR of this book.

The last picture that also is the cover is stunning, I am a sucker for dark blue with glitter, sparkles, stars - anything!

This picture book tells the story of Josephine Baker, how she danced, travelled the world, found a new place to live and what she did there. I learned that she was the first woman to appear on film, and fitting to her life, the pictures are very dynamic. On one page we have multiple Josephines in different poses in a line - different snapshots of her moving to music.

The colours are very vibrant, more than I found them in the books about Jane Goodall and Lucy Maude Montgomery. Many contrasts were used, and this illustrator prefers to show general things and doesn't go in for as many details as the person who did the other two books I've read. Or they tried something different?

Anyways. Kudos to the author for packaging fighting against the Nazis in a way a child can understand, that doesn't cover anything but doesn't disturb, either. I'd been at a loss of words there.
Let this be an encouragement to children who often hear that dancing serves no real purpose in life.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another beautiful addition to this series which I love to read. Gorgeous illustrations accompany Baker's story too at the perfect level for readers of all ages. It's an important story to be told and gives children a perfect role model to look up to who didn't let the circumstances she was born into stop her from following her dream.

A perfect introduction to biographies for little ones! I love this series - and this edition, telling a very condensed story of Josephine Baker is wonderful. Vibrant, engaging and colorful - this series is a delight.

While scanning through the books on NetGalley, I stumbled across this awesome new board book series for babies and toddlers. The vibrant, yet simple, covers displaying historical women that I have grown up learning caught my eye, and it instantly drew me to dig in and see what this series is all about.

Through my reading and my post-reading research, I have learned that Little People, Big Dreams is a new series that focuses on introducing the youngest of readers to amazing, wonderful women that have influenced the world. Each book is purposely designed in order to highlight one woman who has made a difference in the world. It tells the story of that women's dream and how she was able to make her dream come true despite the biggest of obstacles.

I loved the simplicity of the design of the series, Little People, Big Dreams. The authors and illustrators who have worked on this project clearly understand their audience, and they have made each of the books reflect exactly what they want their youngest of readers to be exposed to. Designed for babies and toddlers, Little People, Big Dreams uses simple text and engaging pictures to tell the story of each woman in a kid-friendly manner.

Often times, my biggest complaint with board books is that they lack plots or messages. Even though board books are purposely designed for babies and toddlers, I absolutely believe they still need to be strong examples of books that contain both strong plots and messages. All age levels of children need to have access to great texts.

I loved how Little People, Big Dreams designed their biography series for baby and preschool readers. There are not many nonfiction book series out there. This series is absolutely helping to pave the way to push the norm for what we typically think of when we think of baby books. Little People, Big Dreams series is a positive example of how even our youngest of readers can read and learn from awesome books!

The story of Josephine Baker was absolutely-deserved to become one of the newest biographies add to the Little People, Big Dreams Collection. Her talent as a performer made her shine, but her passion for equal rights of all performers of color made her worth remembering. This book is sure to be loved by both you and your littlest reader as you learn all about her fight to share her talents with all of the world.

This was a cute and sweet introduction of Josephine Baker for young children. It focused on all the positive aspects she's known for, including civil rights and the adoption of all her children, even her work as a spy. It also showed the fun things that Josephine Baker was known for, such as all her pets, the banana skirt, and of course, her dancing. My daughter and I enjoyed reading this book.

Beautiful book for the youngest of audiences. Pictures inspire an interest to ask questions like "why does she wear that dress?" "Who is that she is talking to?" "Does she like to dance?" It was a bit short for me, but then again, I'm not the intended audience. Thank you!

I love this series. It's fun to get a quick glimpse at Josephine's life. The illustrations are playful and vibrant--like her.

I love this series and this is another great addition - My First Josephine Baker is a great introduction to a fascinating lady who had a brilliant personality, passion and a determination to focus on civil rights and equality. She is a great inspiration to get children to want to be kind, strong, individual and fun-loving too. 5 stars - very highly recommended!!

Who knew a 24 pages children's book could hold so much information? I knew of Josephine Baker's dance performance, but not more. I was surprised to discover the work she had done! This book can teach your children about passion, courage, overcoming racial discrimination, and about making the world a better place! All this while reading about the incredible life of Josephine Baker!
Another great book from the Little People, Big Dreams series!
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!

Absolutely loved this little book.
A great insight into the life of Josephine Baker,an American-French born entertainer.

A dancer,an activist and the first African-American to star in a picture movie, she even adopted 12 children and raised them.

Beautiful illustrations by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vergara.

This book is another entry in the Little People, Big Dreams series for the youngest listeners. It tells the story of Josephine Baker, an African American performer who not only performed but did SO much more. She explored the world, moving to Paris where she found a less segregated society. Josephine was the first black woman to star in a film. She was a spy, mother of 12 adopted children and a fighter for civil rights. All in all, an inspiring and unique woman.

Little ones can learn about Josephine in this beautifully illustrated short book. Collect all the books in this series. They are wonderful!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!
awesome kids book.
we loved the illustrations.
the story was unique & easy to read!

Before starting this book I knew very little about Josephine Baker, jus tidbits here and there. So this book was a really great start to learning about her life! The art was simplistic but portrayed well the joy Josephine brought to people as well as the era. She seemed like quite the interesting lady! Another great addition to The Little People Big Dreams series, which as long as they are being published I will continue to read.
Thank you as always to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for an honest review! :)

This is a great example of the series, with a simple tale of a life well lead, the artwork is noticeably better than some recent entries too.

Adorable little intro to famous ppl book, i really love this series, especially the range of "role models" they use! I MUST own them all!

Little People, Big Dreams: Josephine Baker' by Isabel Sanchez Vegara with art by Agathe Sorlet tells the life of Josephine Baker in a picture book format.

Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis. Early in her life, she noticed that white people lived differently than she did. Josephine used her natural talent to leave St. Louis. She ended up in New York, but was still limited because she was a black woman, so she moved to France to become even more famous. Later in her life, she marched with Dr. King and she adopted children of many different races.

I loved the bright contrasting art in this volume. I also loved the way the hair was colored, and how Josephine almost always seemed like she was in motion. This was a fun entry in this series.

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.

I’d never heard of Josephine Baker, but thanks to this beautiful book, I have a clear understanding of her upbringing, the social issues faced at the time and her incredible achievements during her life.
This edition condenses what appears in the original into sentences that are structured for a younger reading age. It allows for little ones to access the life of Josephine just that little bit earlier.

The life of Josephine Baker was obviously too multifaceted to fit between 24 little pages. The illustrations are wonderful, but the 2 lines per double page are not nearly enough to convey who Josephine Baker really was. I knew only her name before and this famous picture of her in the banana skirt. After flipping through this book I'm not really any wiser. There was just so much happening in Josephine Baker's life, and everything is just mentioned very superficially.

I'm fully aware that this book series is aimed at very young children, but even they can handle the double amount of text I think. This woman and her story is definitely worth it!

My First Josephine Baker is a new young reader book in the series Little People, Big Dreams. Written by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara and illustrated by Agathe Sorlet, it's due out 6th Aug 2019 from Quarto publishing on their Frances Lincoln imprint. Aimed at the youngest readers, it's 24 pages, perfect for a storytime or read-to-me read. It's available in boardbook format.

The text is inset into full color page illustrations and each page illustrates the accompanying text. The art is whimsical and simple (see cover) and very appealing. I absolutely loved that it's factually based and realistic and doesn't shy away from the reasons for Ms. Baker's emigration from the US or her life and activities without devolving into stridency or preachiness. The story is followed by a short biography with pictures of her life with ideas for further reading.

This is a perfectly charming little book. I enjoyed it very much and appreciate that this series takes on serious subjects in an accessible and digestible format for even the youngest readers.

Five stars for the format, subject matter, honesty, and charming presentation.

I love books that show kids that they can do anything, regardsless of colour and gender. Even though the illustrations were a bit simple, they where still striking with the use of colours.

I’m embarrassed to admit that, though I’ve heard of Josephine Baker, I knew nothing about her before reading this board book edition of Little People, Big Dreams. She was not only a talented dancer, she was an animal lover, a movie star, a spy, an adoptive mother, and a civil rights activist! Her dancing talent gave her the opportunity to see the world and enabled her to move to a country that celebrated people of all colors. What an important figure for children to learn about and a wonderful example of what one can accomplish when one chooses to dream big!

As is ever the case with the series, a must buy for anyone with small children.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a visually engaging, easy to read text which gives a concise introduction to the life of Josephine Baker. On it's own, I don't think it goes into enough detail about her life and achievements but it would make an excellent starting point to find out more about her.

Josephine Baker was an amazing woman!!! Not only was she a fabulous performer, Josephine was a spy during WWII, she was influential in the civil rights movement and an advocate for adoption and racial integration.


I adore this book series. Every child should have all of these books to look up to heroes and heroines in all shapes, colors, and sizes.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Prior to reading this book I had only a wisp if knowledge about Josephine Baker, but in reading it to my daughter I found myself googling for more information on her life story. This book makes a great addition to the Little People, BIG world book series. Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, continues to astound me with her talent in accurately depicting the lives of truly fantastic people in a manner that resonates with children. These books are wonderful, and the illustrations are always amazing,

This is a sweet book introducing young people to Josephine Baker. The illustrations are beautiful. I wish it went a little deeper into her story but it covers the most important bits and will hopefully make kids more curious to find out more.

This is a charming board book, with great illustrations and easily digestible information. It is sure to please the parent reading it even as it is fun for a child. I even learned something!

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The ‘My First Little People, Big Dreams’ series provides informative and inspirational biographies about people who left a mark on this earth, no matter what difficulties they have encountered.
These stories are very short, but that’s because they’re books for children, so it’s totally understandable.
I think they are a very smart and wonderful way to introduce little children to such important figures.
This one here is about Josephine Baker, a dancer and an activist during WWII. I knew little about her life and I enoyed knowing more about her activism and fight against racism.

I received an e-arc from net for review

I love this series, it's always a joy to read about someone who I may a lot, a bit or nothing at all. The art style is pleasing to look at, these are books would be a great addition to many elementary classrooms.

This is the best series of books and I want them all for my two girls! Information and education along with inspiring stories and beautiful art. The perfect combination for curious girls.