We homeschool and I found this kit to be a wonderful tool for teaching art at home to our pre-teen and teen children. It has all the essential tools, information and supplies all for one really great price in a box! At pre-teen and teen ages they need some more substantial learning in art and this has it all!

I am very impressed with the items, price and value!

Two thumbs way up!

Most of the books discuss the life of Frida Kahlo, and rarely mention the meaning behind the paintings. This is not a biography, so if you want to know about just her life I suggest you look for the bio by hayden herrera. I absolutely loved this book. For once, this discusses her paintings and not those of her husband. Frida's life structured her paintings, and though they are self portraits they also have other symbols, that are hardly mentioned. All the different aspects of Frida as a daughter, an artist, a political activist, a wife, a woman and other parts of her self are discussed making this an fascinating insight to her paintings.

Frida is a tragic figure who despite horrific experiences becomes an inspiration and role model to artistic women all over the world. This story is a wonderful biography for girls to show thay can overcome obsticles and be what they want to be. The artwork is very colorful and creative. Susan Senn

Frida is a wonderful biographical picture book about the childhood of Frida Kahlo. It represents her tragic childhood and life in a very interesting way through pictures. The illustrations in this book were absolutely fabulous and truly added to the text in the story.

I was very surprised when I stumbled upon this book today - I had no idea there was a children's book about Frida. I'm so glad - children need to be exposed to different cultures and interesting people as much as possible. This book is beautiful - the words, and especially the art. The book explains Frida's hard life in a way that children can understand, and it gracefully leaves out those parts of her life that may not be suitable for young children. This book is a work of art - I'm so glad I found it!

This is a concise history of Frida Kahlo and her life. You can put her intriguing artwork along side of her life stories. Very good bargin.

This has been a staple gift that I always keep in my mind when trying to get a present for a woman of courage and strength. It's an elegant box of cards/book that I discovered in the 1990's and my box (now devoid of the cards) has served as a safety box for important things.

This makes a very nice gift for the art lover who has everything. The presentation is exquisite and captures the very essence of Frida Kalho. Inside the book-shaped box, one will find an excellent booklet retracing her life,somewhat in the style of her journal, with lots of collage-like effects. The ratio of text to image is oustanding. Along with the booklet is a set of stationery featuring pictures of Frida Kalho and reproductions of some of her paintings tied with a ribon, holding a "milagro" or Mexican charm. This last detail, along with the red and gold Mexican folk border around the box really spell out care, quality and a will to depict as accurately as possible the profile of one of the most intriguing artists of the century.

This is easily, and without fluff, the best Frida Kahlo bio in print. Herrera not only has a great gift with wordds, but she truly gets within Kahlo's turbulent times, affairs and issues to paint a very descriptive world of this brilliant, tortured woman.

My children gave this book to me for Christmas as a companion to Frida's biography. It is beautiful and comprehensive. A must-have for any fan of her work.

This is a very nice combination of biographical information and art. A little of both keeps the book interesting. The quality is very good and I was a little surprised how nice the images were for the price.

Braverman creates a fantastic, hallucinogenic landscape to represent Kahlo's vision as she creates her voice giving details of her life through her death bed first person narrative. The book explores the ideas behind what is truth when subjective perception filters the world differently for each individual, and Braverman succeeds well in representing Kahlo's point of view.

The book falls very short though in accurately representing Kahlo's life as it was. Biographical details are ignored and one begins to wonder what exactly Braverman's mission is. Kahlo's dedication to communism is twisted to have her describing key communist leaders like Trotsky as bourgeois hypocrites. Her relationship with Diego Rivera which Kahlo herself writes in her diaries as one of mutual inspiration and love is often represented as an oppressive hell. Feminist stereotypes are pushed on to the narrative as Kahlo is represented as being a water woman, Diego becomes a ... oppressor, and time is spent on random lesbian affairs and the nearly "hemaphroditic" nature and strength of Frida. Kahlo is rich material for a unique story, but it seems that Braverman often resorts to oft used tropes to tell her story and describe her life.

Fictionalized accounts of real people that adopt their voice are a troubled undertaking for artists and while the poetic language and imagery of the novel is often lush and inciteful about Kahlo largely the work seems inaccurate and often incomplete in its ideas about the woman herself.

The Incantation of Frida K. by Kate Braverman

Here is yet another telling of the fascinating life of Frida Kahol, done in an unusual way by author Kate Braverman. The story is told by Frida while she is in a drug-induced state as she lays on her deathbed. Because of her state of mind, the book seems to read like a hallucinatory dream, with spurts of reality mixed in.

Frida tells her life story in bits and pieces, from the first day she meets her future lover and husband, artist and communist Diego Rivera, to her own exploits as a celebrated artist and fellow communist, and the accident that left her a cripple all her adult life. Since her memories are being told while in a drug-induced state, it is difficult to determine what is fiction and what is fact.

I found this a highly unusual book and rank it among my top 20 books of 2002. It is definitely not the book to read for one that wants to know more about Frida, but it is more of a work of art. Kate Bravermen takes the reader into the mind of an eccentric artist, and it is a fascinating journey.

As she has done with her settings--usually Los Angeles--and her characters, Kate Braverman rescues Frida Kahlo from the dumbing down process of popular culture with an once-in-a-lifetime act of fiction. "The Incantation of Frida K.," despite some of its breathtaking accuracies, is not biography, but an attempt to re-create the mind, if not the creative process, of a woman whom we can only dream to know; the raw of her, as presented by Braverman, defies the easy categorization which so often obscures legends. Sticklers for "the truth" may complain about the novel's characterization of Diego Rivera, or perhaps any other historical character, but that is not the point of an act of fiction, such as this. This novel aims to show the ignition, acceleration, and ultimate crash of a feverish imagination that was quite possibly too big for her time, if not even today's earth. Indeed, I could have read this book in a single evening if I did not have the world--and my two-year-old--to worry about.
I would say more, but it's difficult to review a book that takes your breath away; it would probably be best just to let this incredible prose speak for itself. Writing like this--radiant yet ethereal, and still sharp and insightful--is too rarely published these days. "The Incantation of Frida K." offers a rare opportunity--take it, before all the bottom line publishers take it away from us.

After having read Kahlo's diary she kept in her final days, Maso became inspired by not only Kahlo's art, but by her vision of the world, and has created in "Beauty Is Convulsive" a marvelous series of prose poems. Incorporating aspects of Kahlo's life into meditations on suffering and pain as art, these poems weave a tapestry of Kahlo's artistic mind, which was deeply affected by her physical ailments that persisted throughout her life. This is not a biography, but rather a side dish for readers enthralled by Kahlo's (or Maso's, for that matter) powerful art. Reaching back to the styles used in her previous book "Aureole", Carole Maso has written a fascinating, complex, and unique book celebrating a passionate artist.

This work adds to Maso's reputation as one of the most significant writers today. As Maso has suggested in the past, why are less known artists ignored in media, at the expense of well-known writers. Hopefully, this smart, beautifully engaging, and funny text will introduce a new audience to two influential and important artists.

A fascinating perspective and interpretation of some of Frida Kahlo's most famous paintings awaits the reader who has patience. I say patience because the book can be a bit overwhelming with more references than a university thesis. Each page is full of other authors opinions and quotes who author Margaret A. Lindauer does a marvelous job of threading together. She has an agenda in her writing so you will have to follow her arguments. She does a good job of taking a different approach on occacions from such notable Frida biographers as Martha Zamorra and Hayden Herrera, as well some other more obscure contributors. At other times she utilizes their writings to illustrate her points. So what are her points? As Lindauer states, "her investigation has not been directed toward determining "correct" interpretations. Rather I am interested in the consequences of inscribing particular idealogies within distinctinterpretive methodologies, and in consciously selecting theoretical approaches according to the ways in which they revererate with ongoing political negotiations." The reason I quoted such a long passage, actually a sentence and a few words, is because this gives you a flavor for the writing. This style may not be for everyone. Written like a college textbook there are plenty of juxtapostions, binary relationships, patriarchal presciptions, masculinist discourses, dichotomies and paradigmatic feminie qualities to make sure you keep the dictionary close by. These are some of the more common and easier terms used as she really bogs down the discourse with her use of language. I consider myself to have a good vocabulary but found myself seeing words I have never encountered before. Since the rather dense style demands so much attention it is also a book that is best read without distractions. Linduaer reexamines Kahlo and Rivera's relationship, Kahlo's physical and emotional being and the concept of women being sickly, th surrealist movement as prescibed by men, Kahlo's use of Tehuana dress in political terms and eventualy the cult of Fridamania that was so pervasive in the 90's and continues to this day. So is it a good Frida book? Yes and no, no if this where you are beginning your study of Frida Kahlo and yes if you have read most books available and are still "Devouring Frida." All in all it is an interesting examination of Frida but one that will have you scratching your head at times wondering what the heck did she just say. By the same token it is a book that sparks the thought process and lets you know just how esoteric art history can be. Recommended for Fridacoholics only.

I purchased this book on Frida because I was intersted in learning more about her life/works. After researching several books about Frida, I can clearly state that this is the most detailed book about her works. Whether you have a fascination for Frida Kahlo or you are an art historian wanting to learn more about her exteremly unique paintings, you should buy this book. However, the paintings of Frida are relatively small and are black and white. If you are serious about learning more about Frida I would recommend getting a hold of Frida book that shows her paintings in detail (perhaps The Brush of Anguish by Martha Zamora).

A friend of mind who loves the late Frida Kahlo gave me this book to read to become familar with her work. Needless to say, I was very impressed with the artist and the way Ms. Hardin captures her in this book. The book has inspired me to do more research on Frida by capturing some of Frida's greatest work here. I recommend this book to anyone who desires to begin study on the work and life of Frida Kahlo.

This is a book that would be excellent as an introduction to Kahlo's work, or for those who are familiar with it and want more, as there are some pieces included that are not often seen, like drawings and some glorious still lifes.
It also shows examples of the things that influenced her, like Mayan figurines, engravings from Chichen Itza, "Day of the Dead" items, etc...and has some personal photos that are marvelous as well.

Terri Hardin writes simply and directly, and has done an good job of researching Kahlo's life. The book is 9 x 12, and its 128 pages are mostly devoted to Kahlo's art, so the biography of her is detailed with a minimum of text, but includes the essentials for one to get to know this great artist. She writes of her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera, as well as the many other events that made her life a full but tragic one, and in describing her pictures, manages to interpret them quite well.

Though so well known for her portraits, the two pictures that thrill me the most in this book are still lifes...one from 1942 on page 110 (there's an incredible, lush and vivid detail of it on pages 96-97), and "Still Life with Parrot" from '51 on page 113. The fruit and vegetables seem to dance with energy, and there are always a few cut open, exposing the insides, and their seeds.

The quality of this book is wonderful, with thick, glossy paper (making it feel heavy for its size), and the color reproduction is vibrant. For anyone interested in Kahlo's work, this is a lovely book to own and treasure.

The pictures are gorgeous and I liked Elena Ponitowskas essay in the book so much that I translated it into Swedish (my mother tongue), and now I'm illustrating it!

ok, it's such a cliché, but frida kahlo herself is as fascinating as her art, and here are the pics to prove it. if it's out of pirnt, well, it's a good chance to take the trip to mexico and buy it, really worth it.