Frida (English Language Edition) [Hardcover]

Jonah Winter (Author), Ana Juan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Honorable Mention (Awards)

This long-awaited companion to Jonah Winter's acclaimed DIEGO features the paintings of young Spanish artist, Ana Juan. This stunning picture book is the perfect gift for art enthusiasts of all ages.

When her mother was worn out from caring for her five sisters, her father gave her lessons in brushwork and color. When polio kept her bedridden for nine months, drawing saved her from boredom. When a bus accident left her in unimaginable agony, her paintings expressed her pain and depression - and eventually, her joys and her loves. Over and over again, Frida Kahlo turned the challenges of her life into art. Now Jonah Winter and Ana Juan have drawn on both the art and the life to create a playful, insightful tribute to one of the twentieth century's most influential artists. Viva Frida!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Beset by one shattering ordeal after another, world-renowned painter Frida Kahlo always managed to channel her anguish into creativity. Frida, by Jonah Winter and illustrator Ana Juan, is an exquisite and playful glimpse into the artist's life and work. Filled with the folk art icons of Frida's Mexican culture--monkeys, devils, smiling skeletons, and sympathetic jaguars depicted with acrylics and wax on paper--the book describes, in short streams of text, the feisty, irreverent, fierce nature of the artist. One especially memorable illustration, based on one of Frida Kahlo's own paintings, shows Frida herself caught in a tangle of thorns against a mournful blue night sky. The text reads, "After the accident ... her body will hurt, always." Author and illustrator's notes add background information, but this stunning book from the author of Diego, about famed Mexican muralist (and husband of Frida) Diego Rivera, is a spectacular, lush introduction to an inspiring woman and her art. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

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.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; Library Binding edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590203207
• ISBN-13: 978-0590203203
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #229,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Art > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Amazing Life of Frida Kahlo....., April 14, 2002

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frida (English Language Edition) (Hardcover)

"Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico in 1907. This is the story of how she learned to paint, how painting saved her life, and why her paintings are like no one else's. Like Frida's art, it is a work of the imagination, but it is also true." So begins Jonah Winter's introductory, picture book biography. His simple, spare, poetic text brings this remarkable artist to life, and illuminates her lonely childhood, the polio that kept her bedridden for almost a year, and the almost fatal bus accident that left her crippled and in constant pain for the rest of her life. But through it all Frida's art kept her going. "Painting is like her imaginary friend. It is there whenever she wants it. It keeps her company. It keeps her from giving up hope." Ana Juan's bold and vibrant, Mexican folk-art style illustrations, rich in brilliant color and inhabited by expressive imaginary creatures and Kahlo-like touches, complement the text beautifully. Together word and art paint a vivid and inspiring portrait of a courageous and resilient artist with a unique style. "Her paintings are like nothing else. In museums, people still look at them and weep and sigh and smile. She turns her pain into something beautiful. It is like a miracle." Perfect for youngsters 6-10, Frida includes both Author's and Artist's notes at the end to explain and enhance the brief story. This is a fascinating and engaging biography that is sure to peak the interest and whet the appetite of art lovers young and old.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars * * * * * FIVE STARS FOR FRIDA !!! * * * * *, May 17, 2002

By 

J.P. (SF Bay Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frida (English Language Edition) (Hardcover)

Jonah Winters tells quite brilliantly, and simplistically, the truth about Frida Khalo's life and art. Ana Juan equally talented, compliments his text with sometimes whimsical, often times playful, and always thought provoking eye candy illustrations. After dancing through the words and images, you'll get to the last page and say "Ole!"

What will you see if you could peer inside? The title page: a full page sun, who's benevolent gaze is warm but made curious by a black bird that sits across it's brow, mimicking the thick dark eyebrows that Frida had in real life. Later in the book, Frida playing with zany creatures that clearly wouldn't live in any adult's world, but seem perfectly suited for play in the garden or in the imagination. After her accident, she dances on clouds set against a magenta sky while her friends keep her company in her hospital studio. Frida is grown now, silver bangles adorn her arms while a bit of mystery and pain, adorn her canvases. Viva Frida!

While I do agree with almost everything Roz Levine wrote in her critique of this book, I beg to differ on the appropriate age this book is for - it's for everyone who loves Kahlo's work, Mexican Art, or a good story being told. Buy this book for your child, your artist friend who lives out of town, your sister, or anyone who just appreciates magical things...I highly recommend this book for review to professional Illustrators working in the same field. This book is also a wonderful example of an excellent marriage between writer and illustrator...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, February 8, 2005

By 

JB pop-Eggs "JB" (Woodland Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frida (English Language Edition) (Hardcover)

I purchased this for my 3 year old daughter and she fell in love with it. Now that she's 4 she still regularly asks to hear this story. I would recommend this book as a great starting point for introducing art and artists to young children.