Book Review: Taylor Swift by Wendy Loggia

by Julia DeKorte | 30 Dec 2023

Book Reviews

Taylor Swift is one of the most famous women, scratch that, people in the world right now, so it would only make sense for Penguin Random House to publish one of their classic Little Golden Book Biographies about her. Written by Wendy Loggia and illustrated by Elisa Chavarri, this picture book tells the story of how the world’s favorite pop star came to be.

 

The book starts out with Taylor’s childhood in Pennsylvania with her mother, Andrea, father, Scott, brother, Austin, and dog. Complete with hand-drawn, colorful pictures of Taylor as a young girl, the Christmas tree farm she called home, and the fun activities her family spent time doing together, young readers realize that Taylor grew up just like the rest of us.

 

As Taylor grew up, she tried her hand at many different activities, but felt like she truly found her passion when she learned how to play the guitar. She was inspired by great country music stars like Faith Hill and Shania Twain, and once she heard about Nashville, Tennessee, all bets were off. She knew she had to get there. After much convincing, her mother took her for spring break, and while she explored Music Row and visited all that Nashville had to offer, she also slipped into record labels, and handed out CDs of her own music.

 

While she waited to hear back from just one of the many record labels she left CDs at, she performed anywhere and everywhere—fairs, festivals, sports games, truly anywhere that would have her. While her family was very supportive, and she believed in herself, sometimes the other kids at school weren’t as kind, and made fun of Taylor for following her dreams.

 

Well, they were proven wrong really quickly, when Taylor got a call from RCA Records and wanted to work with her. Taylor and her family left their Christmas tree farm behind and moved from Pennsylvania all the way to Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Sadly for Taylor though, RCA Records didn’t want Taylor to sing her own songs, rather they wanted her to sing other people’s songs. They also didn’t want her to put out an album full of songs until she was older. In the meantime, Taylor kept performing whenever she could, and one day, when she was performing at Bluebird Café, an executive who was forming a new record label came up to her and said they wanted to sign her to their new label!

 

From then, the rest is history. Taylor’s debut album, Taylor Swift came out, and soon after, Fearless came out, and became the top-selling record of the year. Taylor became a superstar! And she was singing about all sorts of things. That’s one of the best things about Taylor’s music—she sings from her heart and writes songs that tell stories. Taylor became world famous, and has a whole fanbase of people that love and support her. Some lucky fans, or Swifties, as they call themselves, even got invited to Taylor’s house to listen to her new album before everyone else, meet Taylor’s family, and bake cookies together!

 

Taylor isn’t just a pop star, though. She uses her platform for good, encouraging people to vote and standing up for what she believes in. Taylor Swift will definitely go down in history as one of the greatest artists in history, and this book does an excellent job of telling her story.

taylor swift penguin random house little golden book biography children's book

Tait & Lily, Inventors of Betcha Can't!