I don’t usually review children’s books, but this is a must as I would have loved to have read this as a child. I have loved murder mysteries from a fairly young age – when I was younger and discovered Agatha Christie, my mind was blown as to the possibilities of the genre. Some may think that knowing about her life is more suited to both teens and adults, however given the right context and medium, she can be of interest to a younger audience too.

The Little People, Big Dreams series introduces children to famous people from a wide range of backgrounds including artists, inventors, musicians and writers. When I saw they had released one for the late, great Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, I had to check it out.

In this cute picture book, Agatha Christie’s life story is simplified and made age-appropriate for children – it talks about her childhood, how she got into reading and her love of the detective genre. It then goes on to share information about her life as a nurse during the war, when she began writing, and her creation of the characters, Poirot and Marple. Finally, it moves on to later life, and how she became famous and well-loved amongst crime readers. Written in flowing, story-telling language, this Little People, Big Dreams tale will appeal to young readers, as well as mystery-loving adults like me!

The illustrations, by Elisa Munso, are beautifully simple, in black and white, with accents of red which complement the front cover of the book. These illustrations are so appealling and eye-catching, providing further clues about what her life was like – a Sherlock Holmes book, a skull and crossbones on a bottle, a picture of her with a dog, or some broken pottery with an archeologist’s brush, amongst others, would be the cause for further discussions around her life and may prompt an interested reader to investigate further too. In fact, I would strongly encourage reading this as a family and would recommend teachers take a look too, as her life has some interesting talking points.

I particularly love one of the double page spreads at the end of the story depicting her surrounded by books, some with the names of her actual novels on the spines – a curious child has a starting point here to explore some of her work.

At the end of the book there is a more detailed biography including a timeline of real Agatha photographs (a lovely touch, showing children what she looked like at different points in her life), with further details, including dates and locations, again, for any children (and adults!) who were interested in finding out a bit more about her.

The author of the books, Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara,

‘…likes to think the success of the series relies on the fact that children love to read real stories about other children achieving great things. It gives them the strength and the courage to believe in themselves and dream BIG!’

Little People Big Dreams website (2022)

Focusing on Agatha Christie’s childhood, and how her interests helped to shape who she was and what she did when she grew up, would most definitely inspire any budding mystery enthusiasts – like I used to be!

Check out this Little People, Big Dreams book or others in the series – the little people in your life won’t be disappointed!