Frida Kahlo’s Life Comes Alive In This New Children’s Book
Who did Frida Kahlo paint, aside from herself? Her pets! Frida’s artwork is filled with images of adorable pets, from monkeys to parrots and cats
Photo: Twitter/johnparraart
Who did Frida Kahlo paint, aside from herself? Her pets! Frida’s artwork is filled with images of adorable pets, from monkeys to parrots and cats. Now someone has turned the spotlight on Frida’s pets into a children’s book. Writer Monica Brown released “Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos,” a book featuring a young Frida with her animals. The book also features the illustrations of John Parra.
The story tells readers all about “Frida’s beloved pets,” which includes “two monkeys, a parrot, three dogs, two turkeys, an eagle, a black cat, and a fawn—and playfully considers how Frida embodied many characteristics of each animal.” So delightful!
We think this is an ideal way to teach kids all about Frida, but not just as an artist, but as Mexican woman who continues to inspire us.
In an interview with the Wisconsin Gazette, Brown and Parra talked about their love of Frida, and how they found this unique way of telling her story.
“Frida’s experiences and personality are intertwined and mirrored in her many animals. It is in these inspirational aspects that intrigued me most about the story,” Parra tells the Wisconsin Gazette.
Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos: The story of a painter and her pets https://t.co/Q2Fpd4Vz3I @johnparraart @monicabrownbks @wigazette pic.twitter.com/nqSdelVsch
— John Parra (@johnparraart) October 12, 2017
For Brown, this book was a little more personal. She explains to the Wisconsin Gazette: “This book is an homage not only to the brilliant Frida Kahlo, but to my mother, Isabel Maria Brown, a Peruvian-born painter, who struggled all her life, and my own, with a serious illness. Frida was one of her great inspirations in life, and one of the comforts I found after my mother’s too-early passing was discovering the handwritten notes she wrote in Hayden Herrera’s seminal biography of Frida Kahlo.”
From some of the images we’ve seen on social media, the book really captures the colorful life of Frida as it makes mentions of her family and La Casa Azul.
So excited about Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos – out in Sept.! By @monicabrownbks Illustrations @johnparraart https://t.co/i52VLnCND8 pic.twitter.com/3SBKaFHcEg
— Spanish Playground (@SpanishPlaygrd) July 31, 2017
This will make the best holiday present for any boy or girl.
You can listen to the author and illustrator talk about their work in this podcast, All the Wonders.
