Little Guides to Great Lives: Leonardo Da Vinci

Most famous as the painter who created the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci is also one of history's greatest geniuses – he was a mathematician, architect, astronomer, scientist and musician...and he even invented the helicopter!

From artists to aviators and scientists to revolutionaries, Little Guides to Great Lives is a brand new series of small-format guides introducing children to the most inspirational figures from history in a fun, accessible way. Launching with Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, Nelson Mandela and Amelia Earhart, Little Guides to Great Lives tells the stories of the most amazing people from all over the world and across history, with colourful illustrations and fresh design to bring their incredible stories to life.

Isabel Thomas studied Human Sciences at the University of Oxford. She is a science writer and children's author who has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People's Book Prize, the ASE Science Book of the Year, and the Blue Peter Book Awards. Isabel also writes for children's science magazines Whizz Pop Bang and The Week Junior Science + Nature, and for science outreach projects. She is a primary school governor and parent of three young sons.

Katja Spitzer was born 1979 in a small town in Eastern Germany. Having completed an undergraduate degree in arthistory and history, Katja moved on to study illustration and graphic design in the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig. Today she works as a freelance illustrator in Berlin. Quodlibet, her final major project at the Academy of Visual Arts, won her the prestigious 3 x 3 illustration Gold Medal in 2010.