I’ve heard many great things from friends, colleagues and their children about the little people: BIG DREAMS books. So, to receive one to review was fab, and even better, I know who RuPaul is, so I have the familiarity with the main topic of the book.

Glancing through the pages, I began by looking at the illustrations. I found them fun, clear and simple, which is what I expected for the age of the audience this book is aimed at, and some beautiful illustrated dresses.

Next I read through the story on the pages. I enjoyed it. It moved quite quickly through the years and how RuPaul went from being home with his sisters and mother, to school (and being kicked out), and then onto his later years where he found success. The story was a easy read, simplified for children to understand and I love that it still manages to portray RuPaul as the fabulous queen she really is and it’s use of gender fluidity in its pronouns depending on how Ru is dressed on the page.

RuPaul has shown us that we should live our lives the way we want and to be ourselves! And I especially love how the book ends with “don’t ever think we are born to just fit in a box, we are born to stand out!” A fab message to share and inspire the little readers of today!

If this story is anything to go by, then I know I will enjoy other books from this series. What a lovely read and a great way to share the extraordinary lives of the icons of the world past and present.

I received an advanced copy of this title to read and review.

I am a huge fan of RuPaul and never miss an episode of Drag Race, so when I spotted this little book on NetGalley, I requested it immediately.

I think the book works on several levels: the illustrations are colourful and relate to the text alongside. The more detailed information and photographs at the end of the book are interesting for the older child.

Most important is the message that RuPaul shares: that you should follow your path and love who you are. Not easy in many ways, but his story illustrates what can happen when you do this.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I am a drag race mega fan and a huge fan of Ru, so I was very excited to see this book. The illustrations are fun & the dresses are gorgeous. She looks like Queen. I love the gender fluidity in pronouns depending on what Ru’s wearing. I like that it took the time to express that he was as comfortable with his husband in slippers as in heels. This was a lovely celebration of Ru and a short, whistle-stop tour version of a long and iconic life! Also, it’s great that books like this exist, when I was young I didn’t know drag queens existed & now these brilliant books are coming out and showing kids a new way to embrace themselves. I also enjoy that it publicises The Hips On The Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish by Lil Miss Hot Mess at the back.

As a big of Ru Paul, I had to read this with my daughters. This a fantastic addition to the book series. Great illustrations, clear message and not too complicated for younger listeners.

This was my first approach to the Little People Big Dreams books, and while the illustrations were nice I think the story was overly simplified. However, the message it conveys, do what feels right to you and love yourself for who you are, is a really important one for (not only) kids. The essence of the story gets perfectly summarized in the last sentence “Don’t ever think we are born just to fix in a box, we are born to stand out.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this!!
I have many of the 'Little People, Big Dreams' books, and this is by far my favourite. With the other books in this series (that I have read) they just seem super vague and try to cover too much. Whereas this book feels like it focuses on just the main message of 'love yourself!'
The illustrations felt very psychedelic and 'groovy baby' - this style just felt so right for this book.

The message came through thick and strong, and felt that focussing on this rather than the full life of the person in the title was far better.
Loved this!

Having read several of the Little People, Big Dreams series now, it's often the artwork which really makes an installment shine. I adored Wednesday Holmes' illustrations for this - their bright and uplifting use of colour made each page feel full of life and vibrancy. The illustration of RuPaul and Lady Bunny queuing to get into a club really tickled me, and brought me a great deal of joy.
The only downside with this book is that it felt considerably shorter than the other titles in this series - and was a bit less revealing of its star. That said, I appreciated the casual and correct use of pronoun switching, and RuPaul's life was presented in a very accessible manner.
Thanks to Frances Lincoln Children's Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

Enter RuPaul, drag queen extraordinaire!
To be honest, I didn't know much about this person beforehand, having heard about the Drag Race but never watched it.

I think the author managed it nicely to explain the concept of drag queens and when to use which pronoun. The illustrations in this one are restricted to a small area of the page instead of all being colour and the text being somewhere in there, which is more aesthetically pleasing, but I think that this version is more accessible to people with sight issues.

Another good pick from this cool series.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

A wonderful addition to this series, I love RuPaul and what an inspiration for little people to live their lives and be themselves, great illustrations, well written and fun to read, showing kids big and small who real legends are

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion