Whilst peeking through the insanely busy exhibition at our local museum this weekend, I chanced upon a copy of the Leonardo Da Vinci title of the Little Guides to Great Lives series, published by Laurence King.

The collection aims to provide child-friendly biographies of great figures from history, and the packaging is utterly delightful. Each book is printed in three Pantone colours, as opposed to the traditional four-colour CMYK process. The colour choices for each title are relevant to the person on which they are based, giving them a unique style which is not (from a design perspective) overly prescriptive.

Throughout each book, all pages are presented and illustrated like this:


They are absolutely stunning titles, we want to collect them all!

Currently, there are 8 titles in the series, with more to be published later this year, including:

• Marie Curie
• Amelia Earhart
• Nelson Mandela
• Leonardo Da Vinci
• Frida Kahlo
• Charles Darwin
• Anne Frank (Available 22/04/2019)
• Ferdinand Magellan (Available 22/04/2019)
• Stephen Hawking (Due October 2019)
• Maya Angelou (Due October 2019)

I've deliberately linked to each book's product page on the Laurence King website so you can also see the extra content available for each title. To aid learning (and enjoyment!), each biography has a printable challenge and certificate of completion available!

Example activity sheet, featuring Amelia Earhart

One of the things I love most about this series is that they are packaged and presented in "unisex" format. Though I truly love the current publishing trend for books about inspiring women which follows on from the success of "Rebel Girls", I am a parent to both genders and hope to inspire them equally with stories of historical figures.

Indeed, Laurence King's editorial director was keen that the series' biographical choices were equally weighted to both men and women, and should feature a diverse range to reflect international interests.

All of the titles are priced at £8.99 and can be purchased directly from the publisher, via Amazon, and (hopefully) your local bookstore.

Which of the titles do you want to read the most? Please feel free to offer your opinions in the comments section below.