My copy of The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgar Changed the Game was an online reader copy, which I assume was missing pages (publisher description says 32 pages, my sample only had 17. Plus, there was a “missing information” feeling I had). Anyway, the bones were there and what bones!
We follow Judit Polgar, a young girl who loved the game of chess. She and her sisters would complete against the men when they were kids themselves. And Judit would become one of the youngest players ever to make the levels she did. Such as she would become the youngest grandmaster in history. The determination, skill, competitiveness, and joy Polgar had comes to life in Laurie Wallmark’s picture book.
This is assisted by the illustrations of Stevie Lewis. They are actually on the darker colored side, but not gloomy. They are still colorful and expressive. The details in many ways are background, only there to support the character, but do have a few fun areas as well. Overall, they are somber, but not negative or sad any manner. (And as I was going through the book, I thought the style looked familiar, but could not place it until I started looking into other books they illustrated, and they are the illustrator of several Stacy McAnulty titles, which are great science books.)
Due end of July/early August 2023 I do plan on finding a finished copy to see what was missing, such as there are a few extras (such as a time line and a page about chess) that are added, but there feels like there might be more. Plus, there is a scene where she is already full on in the middle of a game, that seems like it would be important.
