I Am Frida Kahlo: Ordinary People Change the World

Besides a childhood bout with polio, Frida, at 18, suffers horrific injuries when a trolley hits a bus she's riding, which will affect her health and leave her in pain for the rest of her life. Late in life, when a gallery hosts her first one-woman show, she's bedridden -- and becomes part of the exhibition lying in her bed.

When Frida is small, other kids mock her and call her "pata de palo" ("peg leg") because polio has left her with one leg shorter and thinner than the other. When she dresses unconventionally in high school, the rich moms exclaim, "Que niña fea!" ("What an ugly girl").

Parents need to know that I Am Frida Kahlo is an outstanding addition to the Ordinary People Change the World series, in which author Brad Meltzer and illustrator Christopher Eliopoulos present engaging, kid-friendly (and age-appropriate) picture book biographies of notable people, past and present. Here the spotlight is on the 20th century Mexican artist and teacher Frida Kahlo, who began to paint while bedridden from a devastating injury that left her in lifelong pain. As with other series protagonists, narrator Frida appears as a lively, pint-sized, large-headed cartoon character, here with her famed unibrow and flowers in her hair. She overcomes polio, crippling injury, constant pain, and sexism to pursue her art and explore the world of her imagination, and the book carries a strong message of doing the best you can at being exactly who you are. The story tells how Frida Kahlo loved her native Mexico City and its culture, incorporating its fashion, folklore, and images into her work. Her husband, painter Diego Rivera, is a supporting character; her father, who teaches her about art and nature, and also encourages her to take up what were considered "boy sports" to build up strength, is a quiet star here.