*Review* Vanessa Nakate by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

Genre: Children's 4-7 years

Published: April 11, 2023

Pages: 32

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan climate-justice activist.  

As a kid, when little Vanessa heard about climate change, she thought it was something that happened on the other side of the world. As an adult, she saw how droughts in her own country led to crop failure that left families hungry. Inspired by other activists, Vanessa took a stand and began campaigning to save the Congolian rain forests. Soon, she was invited to take her campaign around the world.

In 2020, Vanessa participated in an important summit about climate change. But when she was cropped out of a photograph featuring other climate-change activists, it felt like not just her contribution to the movement had been erased, but that the needs of a whole continent had been disregarded.

It was a moment that shocked the world, but it spurred Vanessa on to raise her voice louder and to fight harder for climate justice for Africans. Today, she continues to be a leader in the climate-change movement and a voice of her generation.

This inspiring 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 incredible young activist’s life so far.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This is a book about a young woman who is working hard to save our planet and combat climate change, in spite of the fact that people didn't want to listen to her at first. And while I was reading this, I found myself wondering why I'd never learned about her in school. The answer is because I'm more than a decade older than she is, so her notable achievements happened after I was out of school, and her voice hasn't carried as far as Greta Thunberg's, or I'm living in a bubble (or both, it could be both). 

The illustrations were bold and colorful, with solid lines, showing the progression of events in Vanessa Nakate's life as they relate to her activism at least. I would definitely read this book more than once because I learned things from it, and that's always a good thing. Overall I give this book 4.63 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

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.

Olivia Amoah is an illustrator born and raised in northern Ontario. She completed her studies at Sheridan College where she received a BFA in Animation and proceeded to work as an animator and designer for TV. Now an illustrator, she aims to create humorous stories and illustrations, as well as work that serves as a connection to her African heritage.