Life lessons from a best-selling author

A lifelong love of books

After taking 40 years and most of her life savings to fulfil her dream of becoming a published writer, 2026 marks a monumental year for world-renowned children’s author, Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, who is celebrating the tenth anniversary of her international best-selling series, ‘Little People, BIG DREAMS’.

Growing up in Spain, Maria Isabel has fond memories of reading. Her parents instilled in her a passion and love for books. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect to have authored more than 100 of her own books that have sold over 14 million copies globally and been translated into 40 different languages.

Maria Isabel attributes her inspiration to pursue writing to her family. She says

“It was thanks to my parents.

“I was a reader from a very young age, and it was because of them that my love for books started. Every Saturday they would get me a book.”

One of her happiest memories was going to bed after dinner and having her book with her. Maria Isabel shares:

“My parents would give me a goodnight kiss and turn off the lights. But I had these lanterns and I would just turn them on and keep reading.”

From advertising to authorship

Fast forward to adulthood, and while Maria Isabel initially thought she wanted to be a journalist due to her interest in current affairs and writing, at the last minute she chose to work in advertising instead which allowed her to think creatively and stretch her imagination.

Maria Isabel clocked up over 20 years in the advertising industry. It was towards the end of this time that her journey as an author began. She says:

“I just had this idea of writing a blank book with just one question on each page about the life of the reader, so the reader could actually write the book and at the end, it would also be biographical.”

Maria Isabel struggled to find a publisher. Instead, she spent her savings to self-publish 1,000 copies of the creative journal, emptying a whole room in her house just to keep them in. Taking Maria Isabel just over eight months to sell the books independently, doors soon started opening to publishing houses.

Little People, BIG DREAMS

Still working in advertising, Maria Isabel’s older brother announced he was to become a father of twin girls. She went to look for a book for her nieces. Maria Isabel shares:

“I thought ‘I’m going to look for a book about an amazing woman, a true woman, that may inspire them in the future’, because I never had such a book as a kid and thought this is something that is probably out there now.

“Then, when I saw that the book was not there, I thought ‘oh my gosh, I’m going to write it.’ And that’s how it all started. The inspiration, again, was my family.”

After writing her first title in what would become the ‘Little People, BIG DREAMS’ series, Maria Isabel attended the Bologna book fair. It was an experience that she found overwhelming and where her doubts about becoming a successful children’s author started to creep in. However, they were quickly shut down by a friend, who pointed out that none of the books there were like hers.

A series the world was waiting for

Maria Isabel agreed and when she returned home, she started manifesting her dreams. She says:

“I wrote these messages that I put in my fridge that said ‘I sold one million books.’ My dream was quite big, and I did have big expectations for the series because I thought it was needed.

“However, I thought that [selling one million copies] was a crazy expectation because I was only publishing the books in Spain, and Spain is a very small market for children’s literature – it’s not like the UK. So, it was already a huge dream for a Spanish author, and it has become an even bigger dream come true.”

Maria Isabel’s books were first published in Spain as ‘Pequeña & GRANDE’ by Alba Editorial. They were then published in English in 2016 under the ‘Little People, BIG DREAMS’ brand by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

Choosing the stories that matter

When it comes to deciding who to feature for each book, what once was a solo enterprise has since become a team mission. As the series has expanded and become so popular, teachers, children and parents write to Maria Isabel to suggest new names all the time.

Maria Isabel explains:

“Once a year, we get together and discuss who should be the names for the titles for the following year. It is really hard because there’s so many people you could write about and you also have to find some sort of balance, so I try to be as diverse as possible.”

When selecting who to write about next, the achievements are secondary to the life lesson the person carries. Maria Isabel says:

“It’s very important to speak about change-makers and the people who really tried to make a better world.

“These are things, that right now, I feel we have lost focus on. I think it’s important that we make sure children still think of the importance of the natural world, of human rights, and that we are all one.”

Bringing stories to life through illustration

It is not just selecting the name for the next title or the words on the page that Maria Isabel is deeply invested in. As creative director for the series, she also chooses the illustrators. She believes that the combination of storytelling and illustration can help draw reluctant readers into books.

Maria Isabel takes a lot of time trying to pick the right person for each title. She explains:

“More than half of the book is the illustrations, and I do take it very seriously. If we are talking about somebody who was alive in the seventeenth century, we might use an illustrator who works with techniques that are more manual. Whereas, if we speak about somebody who is alive right now, we need a different kind of style that is more modern.”

She also likes to find personal relationships between the illustrators and the person the book is about. A clear example of this can be seen through the selection of Jewish illustrator, Sveta Doroshev, for her Anne Frank book who has a dramatic and realistic style.

Celebrating difference and shared humanity

When considering her dreams of the series and what each title brings to the children who read them, Maria Isabel shares:

“It’s not so much of learning about history or famous people, but about how different we all are yet how similar we are. Everything that moves us is exactly the same, no matter where you live or where you’re from.”

“I think it’s also important in the series to show that some children are shy, some children are very energetic, some children get grumpy sometimes – we’re all very different. But I’m sure children can find somebody where it feels like ‘oh, I’m a bit like that person, maybe I am a bit shy, but that doesn’t mean anything or remove anything from me, that’s part of my personality and it is fine.’”

The power of education and reading

Maria Isabel is passionate about ensuring that the children of today develop into adults who create a better world. She believes in the importance of education to achieve this. She says:

“The work of teachers and librarians, what is more important than that? Children are the ones who are going to be the future of humanity, so it’s so important that they [teachers and librarians] are there.”

There is a significant disparity between the school libraries Maria Isabel is used to in Spain and those in the UK. However, she got to experience World Book Day in England earlier this year. She was blown away by the passion shown.

This passion matches her own for telling engaging stories that introduce real history to young readers in an accessible way. We certainly felt this in the response to one of our final questions: have you ever had any present-day figures that you’ve written about get in touch? She answers:

“Oh yes.”

“The first one was Sir David Attenborough, and he wrote me a letter. That was really, really exciting, and it was so cool. Then, I got another letter from Corazon Aquino’s grandson and he said that the whole family could never have dreamed of children’s books about their grandma being published. Then, I got another letter from Ernest Shackleton’s nephew who is in charge of his uncle’s work, and he was also very excited with the book.”

As new letters arrive and the series expands, Maria Isabel continues to inspire our young people by showing that while everyone was ‘little’ once, they can have the courage to dream big.