Frida

Frida Kahlo was a hispanic artist that found herself in hard times with health issues but she despite her health she chose to prevail and expressed what she was feeling on the inside by using art. Frida has beautiful illustrations in which colorful Mexican folk-art is incorporated to display true

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hispanic culture.

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The illustrations in this book are very beautiful and contain elements from Frida’s own work, such as monkeys, self-portraits, and her bed. The artist includes repeating images such as skeletons and little monsters mixed in with the humans and action. She also places faces subtly in unexpected

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elements, such as on fruit or in suns/moons. The book does a good job balancing the horror and wonder of Kahlo’s life for a young audience.

Many of Kahlo’s paintings might seem too gruesome, disturbing, or mature for young children to understand. This book could be part of a unit on Mexican history/heritage month and pieces of her art could be chosen carefully to have students analyze and decide their own meanings. The book could be read as an introduction to the paintings, such as a unit on art or Art Masterpiece activity. Each table could look at the paintings and decide what stands out to them, what seems important, what they think the painting means, how they think the painter felt and why when she made each painting, etc.

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I liked the way that this book brings young Frida Kahlo to life and the influences that made her create art in the style which she did. The use of traditional characters from Mexican folk art helps to set the scene of her life as it would have been, but also gives children characters to watch for

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in the illustrations.

This book could be used for a library program that celebrates Hispanic culture, specifically Mexican culture.

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Frida (ages 5-9) is a picture book biography by Jonah Winter and exquisitely illustrated by Ana Juan that tells the story of the colorful and controversial life of Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. Though not in verse, the poetic quality of the text lends a dream-like quality to Kahlo’s story, and is

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enchantingly paired with Ana Juan’s acrylic illustrations incorporating Mexican folk art motifs and the palette and magical surrealism of Kahlo’s paintings. The prose and images combine to create a fantastical voyage into Kahlo’s life and art by telling a story that may be light on facts, but instead conveys the spirit of Kahlo’s life and art. Kahlo is an inspirational artist whose perseverance and tenacity in her paintings and her life will expand children’s horizons and especially inspire girls to conquer barriers to their dreams.

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Frida's life hasn't been easy--she suffers from an illness at a young age and then a crippling bus accident in her teens. Constantly confined to her bed she escapes into the world of her art, drawing and painting the pain she feels instead of showing it outwardly. It is filled with gorgeous

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illustrations and simple sentences perfect for beginning readers.

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Interesting book that talks about the life of Frida Kahlo. I've heard about her since she is a very well known artist. It is great to see a person who went through many conflicts, but always looked positively. Frida painted instead of being sad. She found an outlet that many students can appreciate

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and follow in Frida's footsteps; instead of feeling sad or bad for oneself, do something you love and make yourself happy. Great illustrations. I enjoyed the places that the author decided to put the text, it is very creative.

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Filled with traditional Mexican folk images and a palette matching Frida's, this brief biography about the lucky and courageous artist's early develoment also includes an expanded biographical sketch at the end, along with the author's note's on his inspiration in creating the book. Appreciate the

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aesthetics, use as a teaching tool, or, preferrably, both.

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Frida by Jonah Winter, with beautifully surreal illustrations by Ana Juan, is a picture book about the life and artistry of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The picture book is fairly short with only one or two lines on each page, but the parts surrounding her disease as a child and her accident later

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on is heavy subject matter that might upset young children. Furthermore, the illustration style is beautiful but a little disconcerting for children below fourth or fifth grade. Otherwise, it is a great book for instructing middle school level (or slightly below that age) children about the artist, and would prove inspiring for the girls in the audience. Unfortunately, Frida is after all, the only female visual artist that most Americans can name.

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This book is different than many of the others that I've read of late. It is strong and inspiring, yet sparing in details. The author's note is even minimal in its attempt to show the artist for who she was. Obviously, a lot of the less child-friendly aspects of Frida's life have been omitted, yet

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the story is sure to garner some interest among young readers. Of course, the art is very culturally specific in an effort to illustrate where Frida's inspiration would have come from. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

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“Frida” was an excellent story that chronicled the life of painter, Frida Kahlo. I enjoyed the story for two main reasons. First, the illustrations were excellent and mirrored the style of Kahlo’s own art. The illustrations also had very authentic aspects of Mexican culture within them. I

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read in the illustrator’s note that Mexican art and culture played a very important part in Frida’s development as an artist. The illustrator states, “For this reason I have portrayed traditional characters in Mexican folk art-funny skeletons, little devils, sweet jaguars, and others-as constant companions throughout her life. These are images she would have seen in her childhood home, in the markets of her town, and in books.” I thought this was a really cool thing that the illustrator did, because it made the biography very authentic to Frida’s actual life. Because of the vivid illustrations drawn to exemplify Frida’s inspirations and own artwork, it seemed like “Frida” was Kahlo’s own story and not just a story about her. Secondly, I really liked the message that “Frida” sent. Frida suffered from Polio when she was little and was confined to a bed for nine months. She was also in a horrible bus accident which put her in a full body cast for three months and in constant pain for the rest of her life. During both recoveries Frida’s love of art was what kept her sane. Of course, she had her moments of despair and pain but her love of painting always got her through it. This is exemplified through the lines, “After the accident, life will never be the same for Frida. She will walk with a cane-when she is able to walk. Her body will hurt, always. But Frida doesn’t cry or complain. Instead of crying, she paints pictures of herself crying. When she can’t leave bed, she paints in bed. When her whole torso is put in a cast, she paints on the cast.” These lines showcase how Frida took all the immense pain she had in her life and turned it into something beautiful and positive. I believe the main idea of “Frida” is to remain positive even in the most terrible of situations. After having polio and then being in a horrific accident, Frida could have easily been depressed and given up on her art. Instead of doing this Frida took the unfortunate circumstances in her life and turned them into her beautiful paintings. Frida’s story is a true inspiration for all people who are struggling and a testament to never giving up.

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I liked this book. The main idea was to give children information about the artist Frida Kahlo and her life. I really enjoy how the text is incorporated into the pictures. For example, there is a picture of her holding a paint palette, and the words are on the palette instead of just randomly on

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the page. Another reason I like the book is that there are very few words on each page. This won't confuse children and make it easier for them to stay focused. I also like how the book is written in present tense. One sentence says "all of a sudden, Frida falls very ill". It makes the children feel like they are with Frida at that point and time so they can really relate to her as if she is one of their friends.

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Jonah Winter strikes again with this beautiful book about the life of Frida Kahlo. This book provides both English and Spanish elements which are a great multicultural inclusion for readers. In addition the illustrations were perfect and reflected those of Frida herself, as well as depicting parts

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of her life perfectly, and that iconic unibrow.

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This book covers both the hard and wonderful parts of Frida Kahlo's life. She had a tough upbringing and I enjoyed that it was shown to be tough and not sugar coated, although it is not so horrible as to frighten or shock the children you are reading to. The illustrations are really wonderful and

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many of the characters in her paintings and her paintings are shown so one can truly see where her inspiration comes from. Because it comes in both Spanish and English ti makes a great book for an ESL classroom where students can experience both languages.

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This book takes the very adult content of Frida Kahlo’s hardships and translates them into a biography for children. Frida's life had not been easy; she suffered from an illness at a young age and then a horrible bus accident in her teens. Constantly confined to her bed Frida escaped into the

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world of her art; drawing and painting the pain she felt instead of showing them. The illustrations of the book mirror the style of Kahlo’s own art. For the classroom, I would say that this book would be excellent to use for History.

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Frida is a simple, but great book. Winter does a great job of discussing the more tragic events of Frida's life in a way that is accurate, but not too dark for children. The illustrations are also incredibly unique and vibrant. The book also mentions many aspects of Mexican culture and art.