Center for Children's Literature Blog

Children’s Book Committee – January 2024 Pick

The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the Game
Author: Laurie Wallmark
Illustrator: Stevie Lewis

Colorful stylized illustrations capture this close-knit chess obsessed family which produced the youngest chess grand master at age fifteen.

Our Young Reviewer Says:

“I liked the book because it’s about how no matter what your age or gender or how tall or strong you are you can do the things you want. Judit Polgár does a great job of showing kids how anything is possible. What happened was that a girl was taught how to play chess and she went to tournaments with very underrated odds and crushed adults with her skills. I think the book is for 7- to 8-year-olds because although everyone has those feelings, and everyone can read it, there are not many words on the page. Also the pictures were very well done.”

–Ben, age 9, Washington, DC.

Young people who are interested in reviewing are invited to do so as we welcome the individual perspective of our age appropriate readers. If you are interested in being a reviewer, contact youngreviewers@bankstreet.edu.

See our Monthly Picks Archive 2012–2018, and our Monthly Picks 2019–present.