Parents' Guide to

Diego: Bigger Than Life

By Debra Bogart, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Lively free verse bio doesn't gloss over Rivera's appetites.

Book Carmen Bernier-Grand Biography 2009
Diego: Bigger Than Life Poster Image

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What's the Story?

Told in first person free verse, Diego Rivera is portrayed as larger than life in stature, talent, and appetites. He discovered the desire and talent to be an artist at an early age, and at 19 left Mexico for Europe to study painting. Despite his disagreements with the Mexican government, he returned there after numerous love affairs in Europe, and having explored many styles of art he discovered muralism. Fighting as a revolutionary soldier or living a life of poverty, his love of the Mexican people was always his foremost subject. His politics were controversial outside of Mexico, but his paintings, especially his murals, made him famous worldwide. Includes notes, chronology, quotes, and a bibliography.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

For readers 12 and up, this is a vibrant introduction to an artist as well known for his Communist Party loyalties and convictions as for his richly colored murals. The prose poems are sophisticated and artsy, while the accompanying, glowing illustrations seem aimed at a younger age. This book would work best in a classroom setting, or accompanied by other books that reproduce more of Rivera's artwork for readers to enjoy and/or study. As a picture book for older readers, this is a luminous volume by Bernier-Grand that introduces budding artists to a fascinating art form.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the time period in which Rivera lived. His parents wanted different lives for him, which one of them prevailed?

  • Diego was very sure of himself from a young age. What do you think gave him such confidence?

  • What was a wet nurse, and why did families use or need them in earlier times?

  • What were some of the artists that Rivera studied with? What made him start painting murals? What do you like about his artwork?

Book Details

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