A wonderful insight into the life of a great artist, David Hockney. The 'Little People, Big Dreams' series of books have created another concise, interesting and colourful children's book explaining how he became such a great artist. The summary for adults at the end is useful and great for discussion. Thank you to Net Galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent little picture book explaining the life of artist David Hockney. It reviews this artist's life & art in story form at a child's level....& the illustrations that accompany the story are spectacular! Beautifully colored pictures are a fun compliment to the story. I also like at the end they give some more info & actual photographs of him. I give it 5 stars because really everything about this book was perfect...the story, the artwork, the learning something I didn't know! I'd enjoy reading this to a little kid!
I received an e-ARC from Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Children's Books via NetGalley in return for reading it & offering my own honest review.

This book has wonderful bright illustrations to demonstrate the artist. The author tastefully tells about David Hockney's sexuality. Like always, there is a good extended biography at the end of the book. I enjoy this series a lot.

Easy to read and colourful. A great introduction to an important UK born artist. A great addition to the Little People, Big Dreams series. I'd love to see a copy of this in our school library.

I love these books, I've used the with small children before as a starting point for discussions. I reserved my excitement when I started this one as I wasn't sure if they'd gloss over Hockney's sexuality, but was delighted to find it was just included in a very matter of fact manner.

I look forward to this being released so I can getr a physical copy and add it to my collection of the series!

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This short book covers the life of artist David Hockney. The book spends the most time on his college and early years. It discusses how he developed his art style. At the end of the book is a short written summary and a few photographs.
I learned some about an artist I had never heard of before. It would be nice if there was more information and more examples of his art. I felt like there was not enough about him or his art.
This is a good book for getting an introduction to the artist.

I love this range of books. They are all so well written, interesting and informative, for both adults and children alike. My 8year old loved this title as always and I always like to read them as well. They always shed some new light on the person. Highly recommended.

In this awesome book, I get to know David Hockney, a painter. And how amazing he is. I wish I knew about him sooner and follow his works (yes, I looked him up on google afterwards, and amazed on his works!!). As usual, the author can brought up nicely this artist and inspire people to be themselves and pursue your dreams. Just like Mr. Hockney.

Little People Big Dreams is back this time with a book about David Hockney.  I was not familiar with David at all before reading this book. Turns out, David is a gay artist who would sometimes fail his tests at school so everyone would think he was only good at art! It was interesting to learn so much more about an artist who knew who he was and what he wanted from a young age - went for it - and was incredibly successful with it!  These Little People Big Dreams books have great illustrations and a lot of great easy to read stories about famous figures.

I received a free e-copy of this book from Net Galley in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

I love these Little People Big Dreams series! It's so much fun to learn about different people, times, and lifestyles with my kids. We homeschool so we're always learning something! Art is honestly not my thing so I love that we can pick up these books and learn a little about the artist and his unique style. The pictures are mostly simple lines with bright colors which seems to be reminiscent of his actual art. Really cute book to add to our collection!

Thank you Netgalley, Quarto Publishing Group, and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for my reveiw e-copy!

A brilliantly colourful book! My favourite was the pink poodle (near the almost-pearl-clutching lady with red gloves). This would certainly be a good introduction to art for a child - or, frankly, for an adult who had no idea who David Hockney was and wanted a ten-minute introduction. The images will stick with me, and I'll definitely look out for Hockney's work when I next wander around an art gallery.

I really like seeing inspirational stories like this about artists. I feel like we get a lot of inspirational stories about scientists (as we should), but the arts are sometimes looked over. This book presents David Hockney's passion for art and determination to go to school for it as a valid career choice (a refreshing change from the usual). It also treats his being gay very matter-of-factly (again, a refreshing change from the usual.)

The illustration style used isn't my favorite, but it is colorful and bold and appropriate for an artist working in this time period.

I found it particularly inspiring that even in his 80s he is innovating and learning, creating art on apps and other modern means. The impression I get from this book is that he is completely unapologetic about how he wants to live his life, and always has been. That is perhaps the most inspiring thing of all.

I would recommend this to elementary school children, especially those who show an interest in art, because it presents art as a valid career path and not just a frivolous pursuit.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing - Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.

Another great book in this series and I love how this gives the main points about David's life and the illustrations really support the text. Part of the appeal of this series is that they are so accessible from the young to older children (and adults) and you get their life achievements in a nutshell. A great one to share as part of art or just to find out about key figures.

I love the cover of this entry in the Little People, Big Dreams series. It drew (pun not fully intended) me right in to the story of the well-known artist whose works I very much like. I think that kids will also enjoy learning more about this original man.

David’s path to becoming an artist included one fun fact that kids will enjoy; it has to do with his taking tests at school. Hockney’s sexual orientation is noted in a simple and declarative way. Readers go on to watch as he attends art school in England and later moves to the U.S. where he was always trying new things.

This book offers a good introduction to Hockney. It is another welcome entry in this excellent series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Another great book from a fantastic series!
I honestly didn't know too much about David Hockney - I knew he was an artist but that's all I knew, so I enjoyed this book because it taught me plenty of new info, in a simplistic and easy to understand way
Great book

David Hockney is a fascinating figure. He grew up in England and from early childhood he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to be an artist as from early years he loved to draw. When he decided to go to art school, his mother worried about his future.

But with his determination, talent and creativity, he proved that she had nothing to worry about. His first exhibition was a big success. When he moved to Los Angeles, he started using new technology of photography to incorporate into what he was already doing. Then, he started to paint huge landscapes, which were composed of many canvases stitched together.

He has been a pioneer in whatever he has done, and continues doing. His advanced age doesn’t hold him back. He continues to break the ground with his painting selling for around $90 million in 2018.

The story in a matter of fact states him being gay and him refusing to hide it as other people did. It brings a good point of being yourself and not hiding who you truly are against society norms. However, those biographies are so brief, I’m not sure if such simple statement is appropriate at this age. I’d say it begs a better preparation to introduce such subject.

He is such a fascinating figure that I wished there was more to his story.

Nevertheless, it is a captivating story of a very inspiring artistic figure; great example for young minds to show them the path to greatness. (Ages: 3-7)

Another in the Little People Big Dreams series, this time the artist David Hockney is the subject.

This book felt a lot more simplistic in its storytelling than many others in the series, there didn't seem to be as much detail included. However, the author wrote about Hockney's homosexuality in a very age related way, and I like how these books do not ignore important parts of the lives discussed in them. The illustrations were amazing as usual, and it is another great addition to the series.

With thanks to the author, publishers Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This is another worthy instalment in the excellent Little People Big Dreams series, which never fails to impress.

The subject this time is the artist David Hockney, who I must confess I had never heard about before reading this book! In that sense I feel more qualified than with previous instalments in this series to say that the book delivers a good high-level overview of his life and work, and left my feeling like I had learned something. It teaches readers the lesson that anyone can achieve their dreams if they believe in themselves and work hard. While not dwelling on the point, I was also pleased to see that the book didn’t shy away from discussing his sexuality, and instead spoke about it in a natural way without making it any more or less important than any other aspect of his life story.

The mini-biography of David (complete with a timeline) at the end of the book is a great resource for young readers to cement the facts learned in the book, and offers advice on how to learn more about the artist.

This is a charming little introduction to David Hockney! It gives a nice overview of his life and I really appreciate that the author emphasizes the importance of his sexuality and the way he never shied away from expressing himself. The illustrations are cute and remind me of the books I read during my own childhood.

Some children may well be inspired to 'follow their dream' by realizing what David Hockney achieved by following his. He became a world renowned artist cum painter. I felt the authoress wished to emphasize Hockney's sexual orientation; that is, he was gay.

All said and done, I was not overly impressed by this non-fiction children's book despite the brightly colored illustrations and the true nature of the biography. The narrative simply did not hold my interest. Thus, I only pledge 3 stars for this work.

~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~

February 2023

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.