I usually love the Little People, Big Dreams books, but I have several reservations about this one. Several difficult topics are covered here, and while I know children are completely capable of understanding and dealing with death and the reprehensible treatment of LGBTIAQ folks in history, this text leaves some pretty big questions lying there, and a lot of kids will pick them up. Christopher does "suddenly" and with no explanation. A sentence about how he'd had tuberculosis (or even just "an illness") for years before succumbing would help stave off some kids' questions and fears. The mention of "a bizarre" treatment" that Turing is subjected to leaves about a hundred questions unanswered.
Overall, a lovely little book about an important figure, but do some research Before reading it to a child because they will have questions.

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.

This book made my heart hurt. This poor boy who turned into a sad man did not deserve what he got. I loved how the author did not shy away from the bad things that happened to him, but worded it in a way that a child would understand. The artwork was also wonderful. I loved this book!

'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.

Learned a lot about Alan Turing.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

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.