Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People

Diego Rivera offers young readers unique insight into the life and artwork of the famous Mexican painter and muralist. The book follows Rivera's career, looking at his influences and tracing the evolution of his style. His work often called attention to the culture and struggles of the Mexican working class. Believing that art should be for the people, he created public murals in both the United States and Mexico, examples of which are included. The book contains a list of museums where you can see Rivera's art, a historical note, a glossary, and a bibliography.

Praise for Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People
STARRED REVIEWS
"With engaging prose that is beautifully illustrated with Diego Rivera's paintings and murals, this spacious volume introduces the great Mexican artist to young people. Accompanied by crisply reproduced color images of both the bright, minutely detailed murals as well as archival photos of the artist at work, the accessible account discusses how Diego constructed his art..."
--Booklist, starred review

"The stunning illustrations include images of Rivera's murals, his "cartoon" drawings, reproductions of art that he found influential, and photographs. The design, with scrollwork along the top and bottom and an unusual placement of page numbers, exudes style. The text is clearly written, straightforward, and attention-grabbing, with a good number of quotes interspersed throughout."
--School Library Journal, starred review

"A carefully researched, cogently argued and handsomely produced appreciation."
--Kirkus Reviews

"There is life to these pages, and breadth to its subject. Short enough to reward a wary reader but with enough context and clarity to bring Diego to life, Rubin takes a tricky guy for kids to know about and makes him precisely what he was: bigger than life."
--School Library Journal, Fuse 8 Blog

"Enhanced by gorgeously reproduced photos and artwork, Rubin's account follows the Mexican artist from his early drawings -- as a small child, he was given free rein in a room "covered with black canvas as high as he could reach" -- through his eventful, productive life."
--The Washington Post

"Rubin traces Rivera's life from his emergent boyhood talent, through the formal studio education that left him restless and professionally unsatisfied, to realizing his calling to create massive public artworks for the common people, celebrating the dignity of their labor."
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Award
School Library Journal Best Book of 2013
Best Multicultural Children's Books 2013 (Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature)
Notable Children's Books from ALSC 2014
Notable Books for a Global Society Book Award 2014


Author: Susan Goldman Rubin
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/05/2013
Pages: 56
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 10.10h x 10.20w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780810984110
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 7.1
Point Value: 1
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 156520 / Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People


Award: Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature - Honor Book
Award: Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up) - Gold Medal Winner
Award: Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens - Recommended


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2013
Booklist 02/15/2013 pg. 68
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 04/01/2013 pg. 391
School Library Journal 05/01/2013 pg. 137
Foreword 05/31/2013
SLJ's Best Books 12/01/2013 pg. 34
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2014 pg. 13
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2013 pg. 177 - Recommended, Satisfactory

About the Author
Susan Goldman Rubin is the author of many biographies for young people including Jean Lafitte: The Pirate Who Saved America and Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter. She lives in Malibu, California.