Kirkus Reviews

A wonderfully unexpected and delightfully accessible personal appreciation of a famous, larger-than-life man, artist and loving father as told by the daughter who now safeguards his works and legacy. Especially notable for its feel of precious family oral history, the author's simple responses to each of Rivera's works are recounted with pleasing, slice-of life warmth and affecting familiarity. While this may not suffice for those who seek a simple, by-the-numbers biography, these considered pairings of Rivera's striking, powerful work with his daughter's childlike voice and memories are a potent combination. Daughter Guadalupe succeeds in pointing out the perfect, child-pleasing details of each painting and delicately limns an ordinary/extraordinary childhood, as Papa Diego was a prodigious artist with powerful impact both within his native Mexico and among social realist painters worldwide. This book serves as a superior introduction to that work and career. The helpful and involving backmatter is particularly well constructed and informed, and family photos add intimacy and intensity. Handsome, engaging and deeply affecting. (Picture book/biography. 6 & up)

ALA Booklist (Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

As in good museum exhibitions that are geared to younger viewers, this bilingual picture-book biography focuses on stories. Thirteen works by the famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera are each accompanied by an explanatory paragraph in which his daughter shares her own recollections of the artworks' creation, meaning, and relation to familiar typical experiences, and each English passage is followed by one in Spanish. In the text accompanying the painting Picos with an Orange / Picos con naranja, for example, Marín explains that she is the child in the painting; her father gave her fruit to help her sit still and then became annoyed when she finished the orange before he finished the painting. The format follows a somewhat thematic arrangement that covers friendship, school, holidays, and family, and the reproductions, which are sometimes just details of larger works, are clear. There is no straight biographical information on Rivera here, but that can be found in other titles. What is so special is the personal introduction to Rivera's art and some of Mexico's cultural traditions.

School Library Journal (Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Gr 2-5 In this beautiful bilingual picture book, Diego Riveras daughter has brought together 14 of her fathers original works with a focus on those depicting children. Each well-reproduced painting is accompanied by a brief discussion describing the historical or cultural details of the time. The author also weaves in her own memories and those of her father, making the book personal yet accessible. The anecdotal nature of the biographical information will help readers form an understanding of the artists beliefs and motivations rather than provide detailed events of his life. An introduction and short endnotes give more concrete facts. However, readers looking for more traditional biographies would be better served by Jonah Winters Diego (Knopf, 1991), which chronicles the artists early life. Angelica G. Fortin, San Diego County Library, Spring Valley, CA

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Through bilingual commentaries on 13 of Rivera's paintings, the artist's daughter provides an anecdotal portrait of her childhood with her father. All of the works feature children and will give readers a sense of Rivera's range as an artist. Several are portraits of the author, and they frequently depict domestic scenarios and Mexican traditions. One novel inclusion is Rivera's cover illustration for the book <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Fermín (“The story of Fermín was very important to my father. He wanted to show that all children, even those who grow up with very little, can become leaders”); another is a mural he created for the Secretariat of Public Education in Mexico, which portrays conditions that presaged the Mexican Revolution. The visual showstopper, however, is the detail from Rivera's sprawling mural, “Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda,” on the endpapers, a surreal vision of city life that features a cameo by the artist as a boy, a frog and snake peeking out from his pockets. The personalities of father and daughter alike, as well as the vibrancy of Mexican culture, shine brightly in this personal, insightful book. Ages 6–up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

In this bilingual tribute, Marin pairs thirteen of her father's paintings with first-person text. Her personal insight is conveyed without flourish; she lets the art speak for itself. The accessibility of Diego Rivera's work is heightened by a striking book design. Each painting is set against a bright backdrop, and complementary motifs accent the text. End matter contains more information about the paintings.