• Soft butter or lemon yellow background; Charles Darwin in large flowing black handwritten script; young Charles with a rounded warm brown fringe in a neat bowl cut, rosy round cheeks, blue-grey eyes, a small turned-up nose and a gentle open expression; small dark brown bowler hat with a yellow-gold band perched on top; teal or slate-blue Victorian jacket with a white shirt and black ribbon bow tie; holding a large dark brown hardback book titled "ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES" in cream lettering in both hands; a
  • Young Charles crouching in the lush front garden of a large Georgian red-brick house in Shrewsbury; teal blue-green Victorian jacket and brown trousers, small black bowler hat; peering intently at a single pale pink earthworm on rich dark brown soil between large spiky green plant leaves and bright yellow flowers; family visible in the background — a woman in blue and children playing on the lawn; soft round-topped trees and a pale open sky behind the house; spread text: "Little Charles lived with his famil
  • Split two-panel composition; left: Victorian medical school scene in warm yellow light — young Charles lying flat on the floor having fainted, legs in the air and arms splayed, surrounded by three alarmed male classmates in dark formal coats, one in a black top hat with a hand raised to his horrified face, one with a moustache looking shocked, one with his back turned in dismay; right: large close-up of young Charles's face — rosy cheeks, dark bowler hat, wide blue-grey eyes and a sheepish half-smile — hold
  • Contemporary science laboratory scene; young female scientist with long curly warm brown hair leaning over a large professional blue-teal microscope in the centre; second scientist in teal safety goggles and white lab coat standing behind with a clipboard; third scientist in white lab coat and teal headwear holding a test tube, looking at a large monitor displaying a partial DNA sequence with "GACTA / ATG" visible; framed pencil scientific diagram pinned on the upper left wall; young Charles peering through
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Little People Big Dreams

LITTLE PEOPLE BIG DREAMS: CHARLES DARWIN (HB)

LITTLE PEOPLE BIG DREAMS: CHARLES DARWIN (HB)

£9.99 GBP
£9.99 GBP
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Part of the beloved Little People, BIG DREAMS series — beautifully illustrated biographical picture books that introduce young children to the lives of remarkable people who changed the world. This volume tells the story of Charles Darwin, the naturalist from Shrewsbury whose curiosity about worms, beetles and birds would overturn everything humanity thought it knew about life on Earth.

Little Charles lived with his family in Shrewsbury, England, at a time when people didn’t know much about the secret life of nature. He wanted to find out. He was passionate about collecting beetles, studying plants and observing wildlife — but less passionate about school. He entered medical school and promptly fainted at the sight of blood, so he switched to reading everything he could about plants, animals and nature instead. When Charles boarded HMS Beagle for a voyage to South America and the Galápagos Islands, he observed something that changed science forever: that all living things, from finches to barnacles to human beings, evolve and adapt over generations. His landmark book On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, remains one of the most important scientific works ever written. Today, every discovery in modern biology is built on the foundations Charles laid — the bold boy who understood that knowledge takes more courage than ignorance, but the truth is always worth it.

Told in simple, engaging language with rich painterly illustrations by Mark Hoffmann, this is a fascinating and gently humorous introduction to one of the greatest scientific minds in history. A facts and photos section at the back — including a biographical timeline — brings Charles’s story into the real world.

  • Part of the Little People, BIG DREAMS series
  • Written by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara
  • Illustrated by Mark Hoffmann
  • Publisher: Aurum Press / Quarto
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 32
  • Dimensions: 240 x 195mm
  • Publication date: 5 January 2021
  • For readers aged 4 and up
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