I am Frida Kahlo

Book title: I am Frida Kahlo
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Illustrated by: Christopher Eliopoulos
Non-fiction story
ISBN: 978-0-525-55598-8
Cost: $ 15.99
Publisher: Dial Books for young readers an imprint of Random House
Text copyright: 2021
Reviewed by: Allen Klingelhoets

The book like others in series is told through eyes of main character. This book is about Frida Kahlo. She is shown as young person of about age 13. Her age stays same even as go through her adult life. Frida Kahlo was born on July 6th, 1907 in Coyoacan in Mexico City. She was diagnosed with polio in 1913. It made her right leg thinner and shorter than left leg. The kids in school picked on her because of her deformity. Frida learned how to escape into special place of imagination. She would use her breath on the window pane and draw a door. The door let her into the world of imagination. When she would wipe her hand on door, it would blur and be gone. The book tells how her father would encourage her to play sports to strengthen her leg.

Her father also shared with her curiosity about the world. As a photographer he took her along to shoot pictures. He also liked to paint. He inspired her to look around and find beauty everywhere.

Frida Kahlo met her future husband Diego Rivera when she was a student at National Preparatory School, the best high school in Mexico. Of the two thousand students only thirty-five students were girls. Diego was hired to paint a mural in high school auditorium. It was there that Frida met Diego.

When she was 18, she was in terrible accident. The bus she was riding was struck by a trolley.

She survived ordeal. Her body was broken in many places. She was in constant pain. She would no longer be able to be doctor that was her desire. She learned how to draw. The paintings over time became more complex. She had Diego look at her art. They became friends. They married in 1929.

Frida liked to wear festive Mexican clothes. Her shoes were called huaraches Everyday she dressed like a fiesta.

She embraced all things she loved, her heritage, animals. As adult she had a parrot, a pair of turkeys, an osprey, and even pet monkeys. And of course, she embraced her paintings.

In addition to painting, she became a teacher – a professor. She taught that art shouldn’t be just for those with money. Art is for everyone.

Her body became more crippled as she advanced into adulthood. The accident with trolley had forever changed her life into one with pain.

To honor her artwork : Gallery owner began planning FIRST-EVER ONE-WOMAN SHOW IN MEXICO Frida was so sick that she was worried that she would miss show about her artwork. The organizers set up a bed and made her part of the exhibit. She arrived by ambulance on a stretcher and was part of the exhibit. The party was overcrowded and sweaty. The book concludes:

Tragedy nearly took my life,
But it couldn’t take my spirit.
Fighting back was not easy
Especially when people made fun how I looked
And where I was from
But I was determined to see things
Differently
My face, my clothes, my country, even my pain-
These are the colors on the canvas-
They don’t look like anyone else’s
And they shouldn’t
That’s the best part.
Your picture is uniquely yours
Art is like life.
It is rarely like it appears,
Instead of following a straight path,
Your life and your art will twist and turn,
Taking you on unexpected journeys, it’s
Messy and bold and scary and fun.
But it’s all part of your picture –
a magnificent self-portrait.
I am Frida Kahlo, and I know
That the most beautiful thing in the world is
You just as you are.
The page is made of reflective paper that allows reader to see as if looking in mirror.
Frida Kahlo died in Mexico on July 13th, 1954.
In 1958 The Frida Kahlo Museum was opened.
This book is in series that inspired Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum on PBS KIDS.


I got book from library in my home town. I also found out there are several other books planned in series. The next ones though will not be published until 2022.


The inside cover of "I am Frida Kahlo" says: What makes a hero?


Before she was one of the world's greatest painters, Frida Kahlo was a free-spirited girl with a brilliant imagination who didn't let anything stop her. she survived childhood polio and was not deterred by other people's criticism, managing to find beauty everywhere. While recovering from a terrible bus accident, she began to paint, and her subject was the thing she knew the best: herself. On her canvases, she depicted her Mexican homeland, her pets, and even her pain. Today she continues to be admired for the exquisite honesty of her work and being unafraid to do things differently.


I also found Brad Meltzer drawn into book on page of gallery opening for Frida Kahlo.



Allen Klingelhoets