Praise for DIEGO (1991): School Library Journal Kirkus Praise for FAIR BALL! (1997): Publishers Weekly School Library Journal Praise for FRIDA Publishers Weekly , starred reviewKirkus Reviews Frida an imaginative treatment of the life of Frida Kahlo, avoids these pitfalls. It's clearly not your ordinary biography, providing names and dates to be quoted in reports: it leaves mention of Kahlo's marriage and, for that matter, her last name to the author's note at the end. Instead this is a quietly lyrical encounter with a particular artistic spirit, emphasizing not the traditional measures of achievement but the more personal experiences and impulses that could also drive any reader of the book. Winter (who also chronicled Diego Rivera's life, in Diego, BCCB 1 1/91) writes sparely yet evocatively in the present tense, describing Kahlo's youth ('Enter, stage left: Frida's imaginary friend. Her name is also Frida"), her constant struggle with pain and disability ("Instead of crying, she paints pictures of herself crying'), and her poignant, individual art. Kahlo's dramatic life makes the narrative compelling even to an audience that knows nothing of her artistic significance: the determined young girl leads a life of suffering that only sharpens her hunger to see and to paint. Since painting was Kahlo's real language, the visuals here are all-important, fortunately, they rise to the challenge. The text, in delicate, spidery type, appropriately adapts itself to the illustrations, settling onto the backs of photographs, fluttering across curtains, tucking itself into a corner behind Frida's nightstand, hovering through the pages as part design, part information. Juan's note explains that she was inspired by Mexican folk art as well as Kahlo's work in creating her acrylic illustrations, and they've got a slightly softened, wide-eyed air that gives them their own mood rather than being merely imitative of Kahlo. The child Frida has a round yet austere face, her expression distant and her eyes downcast as she focuses on the world of her visions rather than the real world. The rotundity and modeling give her the solidity of a clay figure while the smudgy imagined critters possess a matter-of-fact corporeality. The wise-eyed jaguar, portly demon, and rotund skeleton and their ilk seem like credible and comforting companions on a reality footing equal to the microscope through which Frida looks or the fruit on her table; but then, the fruit on the table includes a beatifically smiling tomato and grinning skull-like grapes. Despite the memento mori and the unreality, these visions am amiable com any, a sharp contrast to the double-spread view of Frida, post-accide
Winter, who brought the Mexican muralist vividly to life in Diego, focuses on Diego Rivera's bride, Frida Kahlo an accomplished artist in her own right in this striking picture book-biography. With a spare narrative more akin to poetry than prose, the author touches on important events in his subject's childhood Frida's loneliness and the polio that kept her bedridden for months, as well as a bus accident, at age 18, that nearly killed her. He then shows how, each time, art helped her to transcend her injuries ("She turns her pain into something beautiful") and to unleash her magically surreal vision of the world in paintings ("In museums, people still look at them and weep and sigh and smile"). Juan, a Spanish fine artist and New Yorker cover artist making her children's book debut, creates artwork bursting with saturated color and infused with Mexican folk art motifs that also influenced Frida's own style. Floating figures, fantastical creatures and celestial bodies with human features cavort across the pages. Ana transforms Frida herself from a solemn, moon-faced child with uncompromising eyebrows (her well-known physical trait) to a woman whose gaunt features hint at both strength and inner struggle. One particularly breathtaking image shows the artist floating against a night sky, eyes closed and arms crossed on her chest in a death pose, held in the grip of a tree's thorny, gnarled branches ("Her body will hurt, always"). An outstanding introduction to an influential artist. Ages 4-10. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Winter, who brought the Mexican muralist vividly to life in Diego, focuses on Diego Rivera's bride, Frida Kahlo an accomplished artist in her own right in this striking picture book-biography. With a spare narrative more akin to poetry than prose, the author touches on important events in his subject's childhood Frida's loneliness and the polio that kept her bedridden for months, as well as a bus accident, at age 18, that nearly killed her. He then shows how, each time, art helped her to transcend her injuries ("She turns her pain into something beautiful") and to unleash her magically surreal vision of the world in paintings ("In museums, people still look at them and weep and sigh and smile"). Juan, a Spanish fine artist and New Yorker cover artist making her children's book debut, creates artwork bursting with saturated color and infused with Mexican folk art motifs that also influenced Frida's own style. Floating figures, fantastical creatures and celestial bodies with human features cavort across the pages. Ana transforms Frida herself from a solemn, moon-faced child with uncompromising eyebrows (her well-known physical trait) to a woman whose gaunt features hint at both strength and inner struggle. One particularly breathtaking image shows the artist floating against a night sky, eyes closed and arms crossed on her chest in a death pose, held in the grip of a tree's thorny, gnarled branches ("Her body will hurt, always"). An outstanding introduction to an influential artist. Ages 4-10. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
K-Gr 4-This wonderfully conceived early biography of artist Frida Kahlo is a feast for the eyes. Winter's succinct and straightforward narrative aptly describes the subject's childhood and the origins of her artistic nature. Juan borrows from the artist's own technique, using many of Kahlo's symbols in her illustrations, such as monkeys, skeletons, and jaguars. Juan has created whimsical, colorful characters to portray Frida's own fertile imagination. At times the drawings become very dramatic and convey Kahlo's inner strength and willpower. Mlawer's translation of Winter's straightforward, lyrical narrative is flawless, accurately conveying not only the content but the feel of the English original. Author and illustrator notes are included. An essential purchase for school and public libraries.
Gr 2-5-This picture-book biography of the Mexican-born artist captures the essence of her difficult life and her triumph as a painter. Written in present tense, the story has immediacy, and the magnificent full-page acrylic illustrations cry out with emotion, as is befitting the work of a passionate artist. Kahlo, often lonely, had an active fantasy life, fueled by her creation of an imaginary friend and her exposure to the work of her artist father. Stricken with polio at age seven, she turned to drawing as her solace; years later when a bus accident nearly claimed her life, art again distracted her. While the simply told yet poignant story is inspiring, the true strength of this book lies in Juan's incredible illustrations. Their brilliant colors and expressionistic style convey the sense of daring and the excitement that Kahlo demonstrated both in her zest for life and in her splendid work. Figures familiar to the artist from Mexican folklore abound and their playfulness as they dance from page to page underscores the woman's artistic spirit. Her story is sure to be an inspiration, particularly to youngsters who see life differently from their peers and who dare to express these differences in artistic ways. A bold, successful attempt at incorporating the feel of the artist's own style into an explanation of her life.-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
A picture-book homage to the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, whose indomitable spirit has become a revered icon for struggling women artists. The truncated text outlines her life in a simplistic style, relating her childhood illness and the almost-fatal school bus accident that left her in constant physical pain. It was her painting that saved her, becoming her imaginary friend. Instead of crying, she painted pictures of herself crying. The account ends with a description of her paintings as "exvotos": "magical scenes with words at the bottom, scenes of accidents with angels coming to the rescue. They are prayers for people who are sick." Neither her marriage to Diego Rivera nor her death is included. Like Kahlo's art, the illustrations are strikingly stylized. Done in acrylics and wax, they convey a surrealistic sensibility, using six traditional Mexican characters as a motif (e.g., skeleton, devil, jaguar) and portraying them as Kahlo's companions. The artwork lends an air of theatricality (her infamous eyebrows are depicted as the wings of a black bird) with the text scripting that effect: "She paints what she sees in her head-on top of what she sees with her eyes." The enticing cover depicts Kahlo as a child riding on a red bird while she is painting red birds in the sky. Explanatory notes from both author and illustrator provide context and import, citing biographical details and an artistic style that is a tribute to her. Her popularity has increased significantly in recent time-but who is the audience for this book? Certainly, the picture-book format can serve as an introduction to this exotic artist for young children, and kids may be intrigued by the unusual figures and inherentdrama. But it is more likely that older readers may develop an artistic curiosity and appreciation for this woman's provocative work. (Picture book/biography. 6-10)
