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)
