Diego Rivera

Title: Diego
Author: Jonah Winter
Illustrator: Jeanette Winter
Publisher: Alfred A. Knope, Inc.
Copyright: 1991
ISBN: 0-679-91987-2
Genre: Biography
Library Location: Amarillo Public Library

“The Mexican Muralist”




Summary: Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was born in the town of Guanajuato, Mexico. His twin brother, Carlos, died soon after birth, and Diego, who also became ill, went to live in the mountains with an Indian healer who nursed him back to health. After his recovery, Diego was given colored chalk and a studio with walls covered with blackboards for a homecoming present. When he was older, his parents sent him to art school and later he studied art in Paris and mural painting in Italy. After completing his studies abroad, Rivera returned to his beloved Mexico where he began to paint huge murals that told the story of the Mexican people. Through his work, he drew attention to inequalities in Mexican society that created poverty and suffering.

Personal Response: Diego is a simply written and beautifully illustrated book about the life of Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera for young learners. I had no idea that he was a twin at birth, and it was amazing to me how his family’s homecoming present of chalk and a blackboard influenced Rivera’s future choice of career. I like the fact that the text is presented in both English and Spanish and could be used as an excellent tool with English language learners. Diego presents the Mexican artist as an example of an important person of Hispanic descent who made contributions to the world of art as well as to the betterment of society.

Suggested Use in Classroom: Although Diego is beautifully illustrated, it contains no reproductions of the artist’s work. In my classroom I would use oversize adult books with large color reproductions, photos of the artist’s work found on the Internet, or better yet, project several images of Rivera’s huge murals on the wall of the classroom. I would invite students to give their responses to the book and to the artwork of Diego Rivera. We would search his murals together for imagery representing aspects of his own life story. We would discuss the design elements of the murals and also pay attention to the social message of each piece. Students might brainstorm and decide on some social issue in their school that they would wish to change, and after these discussions, create a “group mural” on a large piece of paper or a sheet for display in a public area of the school.