{"id":30181,"date":"2017-04-19T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs2.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=30181"},"modified":"2017-04-08T14:43:21","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T19:43:21","slug":"little-people-big-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/little-people-big-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Little People, Big Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>I happened upon a\u00a0charming series of books for children called Little People, Big Dreams. (Not to be confused with the TV series Little People, Big World.) These are picture book biographies of notable figures from different parts of history. I loved reading them and learning more about the protagonists along with my children. The depictions of the heroines are captivating and, although they do not all have the same\u00a0author and illustrator, they\u00a0share an endearing\u00a0similarity in style – large, round faces\u00a0and\u00a0colorful attire and settings.<\/p>\n

I first read Frida Kahlo<\/strong><\/em><\/a> to my kindergartener. He came up with so many follow-up questions, I soon realized I didn’t know as much about this famous artist as I would like. I mentioned this to a friend and she insisted I should see the 2002 film Frida<\/em><\/a> starring Salma Hayek as the title character and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera. I did (alone), and enjoyed the\u00a0sensual interpretation of the artist’s life.<\/p>\n

Then an idea occurred to me. Wouldn’t it be nice to read a bedtime story for the kids\u00a0and after they are fast asleep, read or watch something more adult\u00a0on the topic?\u00a0You know how a\u00a0wine will sometimes be suggested that pairs well with your food? Couldn’t we do that with the books we read, as well? With that thought in mind, here are some recommendations\u00a0you might want to try.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>In\u00a0Maya Angelou<\/a><\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0author Lisbeth Kaiser and illustrator Leire Salaberria present to children the\u00a0difficult topics of racism, domestic and sexual abuse, and mental health sensitively. Don’t let the fact that this book covers a difficult\u00a0childhood deter you from reading aloud to your little ones what is a very inspiring story.\u00a0Angelou’s story is, ultimately, one of hope. Most of us are aware of Angelou’s prolific career as a writer and civil rights activist, but how many knew\u00a0her as a cook, streetcar conductor, dancer, singer, and world traveler? Share this inimitable woman’s story with\u00a0the children in your life. Then on your own, read her classic I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings<\/a> <\/strong><\/em>if you haven’t already done so (or even if you have, it may be time for a re-read). Also, listen to Angelou read her poetry in the book on CD entitled Black Pearls: The Poetry of Maya Angelou.<\/strong><\/em><\/a> I’d recommend the kids not be within listening range of this one, as there are vulgarities in it.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>I will be the first to admit I am not a couture kind of gal (my style\u00a0would more aptly be described as thrift store eclectic). Still, I enjoyed learning\u00a0about Coco Chanel<\/a><\/strong><\/em> in the book written by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and illustrated by Ana Albero. Tired of seeing her contemporaries unable to breathe in their tight corsets, she designed clothing that was looser and easier to wear while dancing. She also designed hats and, of course, let’s not forget about the perfume. For more on\u00a0the life of the woman once known as Gabrielle Chanel, you may wish to check out the 139-minute DVD\u00a0Coco Chanel<\/strong><\/em>,<\/a> a 2008 made-for-TV movie starring Barbora Bobulova as the young Chanel and Shirley MacLaine as old Chanel. You may also enjoy the\u00a0coffee table style\u00a0book Chanel: Collections and Creations<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Daniele Bott.\u00a0With 159 illustrations, it goes into delightful detail on Coco’s unique styles. My favorite was the chapter on the Camellia flower, which is pictured on the cover. Other chapters detail ‘The Suit’, ‘Jewelry’, ‘Fragrance & Beauty’, and ‘The Black Dress.’<\/p>\n

All the suggested children’s books are from the Little People, Big Dreams series.There are more books in this series and you can find all the ones the library owns by doing a series search for Little People Big Dreams. If you\u00a0have favorite\u00a0books or movies\u00a0that you think go together like Chardonnay and Gruyere,\u00a0please let us know.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I happened upon a\u00a0charming series of books for children called Little People, Big Dreams. (Not to be confused with the TV series Little People, Big World.) These are picture book biographies of notable figures from different parts of history. I loved reading them and learning more about the protagonists along[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[361,10,12,5,1,8],"tags":[4130,4050,4049,4129],"class_list":["post-30181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-books","category-books","category-dvds","category-read-a-likes","category-reference","category-staff-picks","tag-coco-chanel","tag-frida-kahlo","tag-little-people-big-dreams-series","tag-maya-angelou"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-7QN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30181"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30718,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30181\/revisions\/30718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}