This book is the newest edition of the "Little People, Big Dreams" series. It is a mini-biography which introduces the reader to a wonderful woman, Ada Lovelace, who is way ahead of her time. She was born in England having Lord Byron, a very famous poet, as her father in 1819. Her mother, who loves maths, steers her ambitions towards the maths and away from the arts. Strangely enough little Ada inherits both of her parent's ingenious traits. Because of the absence of both parents in her life she spends a lot of time at her grandparent's house. Often on her own she lets her imagination soar. It is saturated with all kinds of creative mental imagery that she happily conjures up.

Ada, at the age of fourteen, becomes quite ill and is bed-ridden for three long years. Although her body is frail and sickly her mind flourishes as she studies, invents and dreams.

After a while Ada travels to London where she encounters a very famous mathematician named Charles Babbage. Together they mesh their intellect and create something totally magically for the times... the calculator. Ada uses her creative mind and pushes the envelope farther to embellish what it can do. The original calculator is only capable of doing sums quickly and Ada knows that she can make it do even more amazing things. She actually writes a code made up of numbers, that will tell the calculator what to do. It is the first computer language known and some of it is still in use to this very today.

"She showed that when you use science and imagination, your dreams can take flight."

The illustrations enhance and enrich the narrative and the educational facts that the author includes at the end of the book are truly fascinating to read.

This series is a wonderful role model for young girls as they read about empowered, normal women who make huge contributions and change the world in a positive way. The stories are simply told and the series is a best-seller. The books truly are a celebration of women hood and are now available in board book format for young readers to enjoy.

You never know who you are raising in your home or who you are teaching in your classroom. You just might be nurturing someone who will impact the world in a very dynamic way! I highly, highly recommend this book and the entire series.

What other rating could I really give a book in this series? They’re beautiful books that are filled with the life stories of inspirational people, and Ada Lovelace is no different!

Packed full of lovely illustrations, Ada Lovelace tells the story of the little girl who would go on to become the world’s first computer programmer and created the code that we use in computing today. The book is just detailed enough to give an overview of her life and why she’s such an important historical figure without being too much for younger readers to digest. I do like, however, that there’s a more detailed text at the back and a selection of books for further reading.

This is definitely a title to add to your collection!

This is an excerpt of a review was originally published on my website: <a href="https://www.missjennysclassroom.com/2018/03/ada-lovelace-book-review.html">Miss Jenny's Classroom</a>

This is the story of a woman many have never heard of – Ada Lovelace. Ada, daughter of Lord Byron, dreams of things people have never heard of and embraces reading and mathematics. As she gets older she falls ill with the measles but recovers to meet Charles Babbage. She uses her love of mathematics to create the coding to make a calculator work but it becomes the first stepping stone on the path to the very first computer.

I admit it – I saw the cover and thought “Hmm, not liking the cover”! It’s a given that on so many occasions we do judge a book by its cover and on this occasion I’m glad I read the book anyway! I honestly thought that this was going to be another biography with too many details, not enough engagement – and dare I say I thought the illustration on the cover was odd. As I started reading the book though, with the little knowledge I had about Ada, I begin to actually like the quirkiness of the illustrations – they were fun, engaging (gotta love the cat!)

This is a great book on many levels for classroom use.

'Ada Lovelace' by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara with illustrations by Zafouko Yamamoto is a picture book about the life and times of Ada Lovelace.

Ada Lovelace had a mother who loved mathematics and a father who loved poetry. When her father left when Ada was little, Ada spent time with her grandparents and their cat. Ada had a good imagination, which she later learned with Charles Babbage working on a Difference Engine. What Ada did on the machine led to what we do with computers today.

There is a little more detail given in the back of the book along with some portraits of Ada. The illustrations are really good as is the text. Not too dense and of interest to young readers. I don't know if this will spark interest in young readers, but I enjoyed this book.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

A lovely collection of stories, with this book being no exception. Gorgeous illustrated, inspiring and fun these books will make perfect gifts.

Absolutely love the little people big dreams series. This is my second book that I have read and me and my 8 year old daughter loved it. Love that Ada Lovelace’s story is brough to life and shown how relevant it is even today with coding. Inspiring many young girls that it isn’t a mans world. Can’t wait to read more books in this series.

What a wonderful little book, from a wonderful series! There is a whole series of these charming little books on inspirational women, from Ada Lovelace to Amelia Earhart and Dian Fossey. Beautifully illustrated, and with a very simple text, they tell the story of amazing women and their achievements in (what was then) a man's world. A billion times better than the usual girls' storybooks about crappy Disney princesses waiting for their prince. Highly recommended!
Thanks to the publisher for a digital review copy.

A beautifully told and cogent tale of a leader in mathematics.

This is a lovely nonfiction book giving a brief look at Ada Lovelace, and her involvement in shaping the technology we use today. Before going into this, I knew next to nothing about Ada besides her name- I feel this was a brilliant introduction, and I can see it being very valuable in encouraging young people, especially girls, in pursuing a career in STEM. The drawings are also really cute. I'll definitely be suggesting this series of books to the parents of younger children that I know, and perhaps picking up a few for my cousin, nephew and niece!

Little Leaders brings another great non-fiction book to the group with Ada Lovelace. The content is easy to read, engaging and fun for readers. Ada's story is captivating and inspiring. The layout is great with more factual information at the back.

A superb book about an absolutely fascinating woman!
As an adult I really enjoyed the book - the images are brilliant and I loved learning about her life.
I wish all biographies were this fun and interesting - great facts!

The series of superb children's book about outstanding people continues with Ada Lovelace. This series is highly recommended to all children especially those interested in STEM. The illustrations are very cute and the content is written in such a way that any child or adult will find interesting.

This is a wonderful and informative children's book about Ada Lovelace, the woman who came up with the process of computer coding. As a child, Ada was fascinated by the ideas of interesting inventions. As the daughter of a mother that was interested in mathematics, she was encouraged to learn math. The combination of her developing math skills and inventive ideas helped her as she worked alongside mathematician Charles Babbage, who was in the process of creating the calculator. Ada Lovelace then used mathematics to teach the machine how to do other things as well. This is a wonderful story that shares the story of an inspirational lady, a woman largely responsible for the beginning ideas on how to program computers, which helped facilitate the development of the computers we use today. I look forward to sharing this remarkable story with my daughters! This book would be a wonderful addition to any library!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced reader's copy of this book prior to publication in exchange for my honest review.

A lovely short biography of Ada Lovelace the original inventor of computer code. The only annoying thing is that the author uses “maths” with an s. Yes there are multiple types of math but it just reads and sounds weird to say maths. Using the word mathematics sounds better in the plural.

As brilliant as the rest of the series, Ada Lovelace shows that anyone can do computer coding!

I liked the idea of the book, and I have seen other books in the series and I was interested to see what the book would be like. I think the book was a little too short for my liking. There wasn't much information on the page, I'd of liked a bit more information about Ada Lovelace. I liked the illustrations, some parts were quite child-like and I think that will really appeal to younger readers.

#NetGalley     #AdaLovelace

Available  March 2018

This is a very simplified story about Ada Lovelace in the Little People, Big Dreams series. It has very limited facts, but enough to give information without overwhelming the child who is new to non-fiction. We learn several bits of information about this special woman, a little about her parents, what their passion was and what Ada was excited to learn about, that Ada was a dreamer, and several other facts.  At the back of the book, there is more information about Ada Lovelace for adults to read.

Cons: None

Pros: Though this is the first book I’ve read in this series, I liked that the book didn’t bog down the young listener with too many facts and that the older child might be encouraged to look up further information about the special person he/she just read about.

5 stars for this children's biography of Ada Lovelace.

This is a very good concise children's biography of Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the world's first computer programmer. Ada's life and achievements are told simply and clearly, and I like that there is an emphasis on the importance of 'dreaming' and cultivating the imagination as well as recognition of her studies and hard work. The illustration by Zafouko Yamamoto is delightful, and the presence of the cat Mrs Puff throughout the story is a lovely touch.

I really appreciate that the book ends with a two-page synopsis of Ada Lovelace's life together with four photographs. Plus there is a section giving suggestions for further reading. I like this evidence of how well the book has been thought out, and I look forward to exploring more books in the 'Little People, Big Dreams' series.

I received this ebook free from NatGalley in return for an honest review.

I'm guessing the age range is for preschoolers, and this fits the bill. I wouldn't have minded it being a little bit longer, but I'm saying this from the perspective of an adult. Adults will enjoy this super short and sweet take on Lovelace's life, and of course, the draw is the stunning illustrations. A lovely book.

I so loved this book, the illustrations are just beautiful and the addition of a cat makes it magical. I really enjoyed the simple language and my girls were all inspired by the story, it's so important to identify the power of thinking and dreaming alongside hard work and determination.