Wilma Rudolph

Meet Wilma Rudolph, the remarkable sprinter and Olympic champion.

Wilma was born into a family with 22 brothers and sisters, in the segregated South. She contracted polio in her early years and her doctors said she would never walk again. But Wilma persisted with treatment, and she recovered her strength by the age of 12. At school, Wilma showed a talent for basketball and sprinting, earning the nickname "Skeeter" (mosquito) as she ran so fast. Wilma was in college when she went to the 1960 Olympics. She not only won gold in sprint events, but also broke world records with her sprinting skill. She had beaten polio to become an Olympic champion. She is a huge inspiration to many women in sports around the world. This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the athlete's life.

Little People, BIG DREAMS first came to life because author Maria Isabel had an idea—an idea that blossomed into a dream that came to life in a book series!

Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara is the author and creator of the inspirational best-selling series Little People, BIG DREAMS. Growing up in the ’70s in Barcelona, her heroines were Pippi Longstocking, Momo and Tinkerbell, and she felt great admiration for the Spanish poet Gloria Fuertes. She dreamed of becoming a poet just like her one day. It took Maria Isabel almost 40 years and most of her savings to make her dream come true. In 2012, after 20 years of working in advertising, she self-published her first book. Two years later, she released what was meant to be a birth present for her twin nieces, Alba and Claudia: the very first title in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series.

At the beginning the series was first published in Spain as Pequeña & GRANDE by Alba Editorial, and now Little People, BIG DREAMS is translated into more than twenty languages. Maria Isabel likes to think the success of the series relies on the fact that children love to read real stories about other children achieving great things. It gives them the strength and the courage to believe in themselves and dream BIG. As The Independent once said: “What a cool way to drift off to sleep.”

Now with more than 7.5 million copies sold worldwide, the series continues to grow and expand, introducing children around the world to artists, trailblazers, and dreamers who each made a big impact in the world around them.