This book explores the life of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as J.R.R. Tolkien considered by many to be one of the key figures in modern fantasy literature. It details his move to England and how his love of his South African birthplace inspired him to create and write his fantasy worlds that delight in nature.

Throughout are full-page colour illustrations which are bright and engaging but use a slightly muted colour palette, making them feel like the representations of Tolkien's worlds.

Each page is a little jarring, jumping through key events in his life, often rapidly, such as his time in World War I. The information is important, and the book would work well as a support for a class unit of work, but it doesn't explore the person in much detail. As such, the timeline, with photographs of Tolkien, at the end of the book helps provide further context.

The general tone is a nice one to share with children. It's one of encouragement in finding your interest and honing your skill in it, as well as committing to a large scale project.

The topic and writing style make this ideal for reading to three to seven-year-olds. From the vocabulary used and how much of it is phonetically decodable, a child would be about seven years old to read this independently or with minimal support.

I have read quite a few of the Little People Big Dreams series and as soon as I saw this one I knew I needed to read it, Tolkien had such a brilliant mind and I didn't know much about him although I am a massive fan of his work. It will certainly appeal to any parent or child that wants to know more about his life and the illustrations are beautiful!

I realise I hardly knew anything at all about JRR Tolkien until now, despite absolutely loving The Lord of the Rings since I was much younger. This was a really interesting look at his life from childhood.

This is my first time reading one of these books, but I'm a HUGE fan of Lord of the Rings and I know of a few facts about Tolkien, so I just had to give this a go!

It's a fast paced introduction to Tolkien, giving children the basic gist of who he was, his circumstances and what led him to creating his books! It tells you all about his love of languages, his studies, his experiences with the war and moving to the City as well as how the idea for The Hobbit started before turning into a book.

The illustrations to accompany it really are beautiful and so colourful and I loved the striking contrast to more drab colours after all the green when the book mentions that he moved to the City. I feel like it's an extra nice touch as you can visually see as well as pick up from reading the narrative, where the inspiration for certain things in LOTR and The Hobbit came from although that might be only for older Tolkien fans to pick up on!

It's a beautifully illustrated introduction to Tolkien and his books, and I loved how it captures the essence of what LOTR is truly about and its message!

Little People, BIG DREAMS. One of a series for adults to read to children and for ESL to polish their English and learn about people who have shaped their world.
This time the featured person is the imaginative author of the Lord Of The Rings. Born in South Africa and the living in the countryside in England, he was so disappointed when he was moved to an industrial city. He was fascinated by the workings of languages and used that in his works.
The illustrations by Aaron Cushley are mostly simple and forthright. Every public and school library needs a copy!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Quarto Publishing Group/Frances Lincoln Children's Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This series has the best illustrations and has the ability to make nonfiction biography accessible to older children. Each one tells the uniq story of an individual and doesn't leave our the important details. The books pull from an interesting and accessible place which would be these ideal for an elementary classroom.

Love these books. And being a big Tolkien fan this was a treat.
A great way to introduce great men and women to our little ones.
Will definitely pick this one up.

Adorable! And I didn't know anything about J.R.R. Tolkien. Literally, nothing. It has amazingly cute graphics and the information was easy to understand and relatable! I feel like I learned as much as my 6 and 8 year old!

This is such a darling book celebrating the life of one of my favourite authors of all time J.R.R. Tolkien. I have many of this series for my son and this is by far our favourite so far. I loved the telling of his life from when he was a little boy up until his later years, and how he came up with his beloved stories about Middle Earth. This is such a treasure of a book for anyone who loves Tolkien and wants to introduce their kids to him and his life.

I loved this book, which is about the author J R R Tolkien, and his life from when he was born until he died. The book has lovely illustrations and easy to read text, which tell the story of his life. I was interested to find out that he was born in South Africa and then he moved to England after his father died. He was always interested in nature, writing and art, and later he went to university to study English Literature. After this, he wrote The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings books. He had a wife and four children, whom he used to read his stories to. An inspirational and artistic man, he has left us all a wonderful range of written material and art, so that we can be immersed forever in his fantasy work and other worldly adventures. This is a great book, which I recommend highly!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From the Little People, Big Dreams series comes J.R.R. Tolkien, a biography about the beloved author and forerunner of the fantasy genre. This board book follows the life of Tolkien from South Africa to England. A nature lover, he builds other worlds through his writing that transport the reader to epic locations and introduces them to a wide range of characters and fable.

This series focuses on short biographies of inspiring figures from history. Tolkien is truly fascinating in his imagination and thorough dedication to his craft. Learning about his attention to detail, I couldn't help but admire his dedication to writing and imagination. His passions and genius are clearly presented as well. The writing in this series is accessible for young readers and the illustrations are beautiful. It's wonderful to see this author featured in this way for future readers.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and and Frances Lincoln Children’s Book for providing my copy of this precious book.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is a legend of modern high fantasy. His the most famous series, The Lord of the Ring is a must read literature for a fantasy reader. I really love how this book portraying his motivation to write and his wish to creating a good story in his all important stages of life. This is a children book but the narrative is warm and informative. I can see how this book will gripping kids attention and inspiring them to become next J.R.R. Tolkien. This book is easy 5 stars for me.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

J. R. R. Tolkien is one of the most recent books in the Little People Big Dreams series and is aimed at readers a little older than the original books. I absolutely love the illustrations in this book! They're amazing and perfectly fit the book. J. R. R. Tolkien lived such an interesting life and even though he faced loss and went to war, he made his dream come true. I love the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings so much and I'm so glad this amazing fantasy author got a place in this fabulous series! I didn't know Tolkien was originally from South Africa which is interesting to know. I hope children love this beautiful biography of such an amazing, inspirational author!

What’s not to love about these books! They are informative, the pictures and colours reflect the story, you can go back to them time and time again.
This Tolkien book has just the right amount of information and the pictures are wonderful.

I would buy this book as a gift and I would recommend it but mostly because it is about J. R. R. Tolkien.
Illustrations are nice but people with a single eyebrow look a bit strange, some pictures were really great but some as if they were made in a hurry.
For the text it is written as an encyclopedia which serves the purpose of the book but if it was a bit more magical and personal it could attract young readers more and then spark an interest in J. R. R. Tolkien works.
Overall it is a decent biography picture book.

I loved reading Little People, Big Dreams J.R.R.Tolkien. If you haven't discovered this series yet then it's a must. A wonderful, concise insight into the lives of famous people. I particularly loved the rich colours Aaron uses in book as it very much feels right against the richness of Tolkien's world. It gave me some lovely nostalgic memories of when I fell hard in love with books thanks to Tolkien.

I just love The Little People, Big Dreams Series. This book is about J.R.R. Tolkien known all over the world for his Modern Fantasy books, the most famous being The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. These books are fantastic for children, especially someone with an imagination like J.R.R. Tolkien. It is so inspiring for a child to read a book that may describe the way s/he thinks and feels. Many children already grew up knowing about him and as adults went on to write their own Imaginative Fantasy Books. New children are going to grow up now and change the world by creating more wonderful books.

So, I already suggest these books to my library and to our schools. Having this book available is a great asset for children everywhere.

Beyond children though, I love reading these as an adult. I always learn things about a person I did not know before. J.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa. He had a twin brother who died. He moved at just 3 to England, after his father dies. His mother always read to him and sparked his imagination and love of books. Sadly, she died when he was a child. He went to live at King Edward’s School and found three special friends who also loved books, poems, and stories. They invented a Secret Society and J.R.R. Tolkien continued to make up secret languages. I never knew any of this. So, fascinating.

I really enjoyed reading about such a creative and imaginative child who as an adult becomes famous since everyone loves his books. So, he always got to Enjoy The Journey of Living Life.

Thank you, NetGalley, Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, and Frances Lincoln Children’s Book for a copy of this book. I am happy to have a chance to read and review it.

This was adorable, and I learned so much from it! I had no idea that JRR Tolkien was South African. I also had no idea about his interest in language, though it makes sense with how prominent language is in his books. What a fun book about a great author!

Yet another great book in a fantastic series - I honestly can't fault them at all.
Although I am not a fan of The Lord of The Rings, I loved learning about the person behind them, and learnt so much.
Not only is the book written in an easy to under stand way, the illustrations are pretty and eye-catching too.

Another fantastic book to join a fantastic series.
The illustrations and colour tones in this book are outstanding.
The front cover is a wonderful insight into the book and I adore that little J.R.R Tolkien is looking through the ring and leaning on the books.

We live very close to Hobbiton in New Zealand, have been to many events and I still learnt something more about J.R.R Tolkien's life.
I read this book to my two children (7yrs and 4yrs) and they were captivated by the illustrations. The 7yr old pointed out the adults 'eyebrows' but I found I didn't mind it, it was actually a rather clever little addition to the book.

Can't wait to add this to our collection.