Elton John, Little People, Big Dreams Book Review

Discover the life of Elton John, the piano wizard who rocketed to stardom with his music.

About Elton John

As a child, Elton started playing his grandmother’s piano in Harrow, London. He could pick tunes out by ear and was attending lessons at the Royal Academy. After answering an advertisement in a newspaper, Elton teamed up with a lyric-writing buddy: Bernie Taupin. And the rest was history.

Elton’s songwriting talent, musical skill, and dazzling outfits have made him one of the all-time greats. This book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the musician’s life.

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

Our Thoughts

I love these powerful books in this series, they focus on one person and how everything starts from a dream. This book inspires our youth, brings them together with the power of music and gives youth hope for their own future.

My Dad loved Elton John and we listened to his music growing up quite frequently. I am a bit ashamed to admit, I did not know much of his history so I found this story fascinating. I had no idea that his real name was Reggie and how music was his refuge growing up when his parents would fight. I also wasn’t aware of his struggles with depression.

What I really loved was how the book didn’t shy away from how he felt – he was adored by millions of fans, had so much money, clothes but he felt alone. Sometimes this can be so hard for children to understand, that someone can appear from the outside to have everything in the world but still be so alone and feel sad on the inside. But it was a brave hero named Ryan, who gave him hope and inspired him to live his life to the fullest. And what came from this? A happy marriage and two kids!

This is a beautiful, vibrant book that is a tribute to a vibrant man. His path wasn’t easy and the book approached this in an age appropriate level but also showed how this can be overcome and provide hope. The illustrations are perfect for the tone of the book, and match his personality perfectly. This is a must have novel for your home and school library, this series is so important for youth.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, born in Barcelona, Spain, is a writer and creative director in constant search of new concepts for children’s books and the author of the multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series of picture books that explore the lives of outstanding people. Working for more than fifteen years for clients in top advertising agencies, her books combine creativity with learning, aiming to establish a new and fresh relationship between children and pop culture. ​

Sophie Beer (née Blackhall-Cain) is an award-winning illustrator/author living in Brisbane, Australia. She completed a dual degree in Law and Creative Industries with distinction at Queensland University of Technology, but found the whole law thing unutterably dull and now works primarily in children’s and editorial illustration. Reveling in color, shape, and texture, she lives by one simple rule: art should never be boring. When she’s not illustrating and writing, she thinks a lot about plants, animals, music, and books.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.