Slouched hat over his eyes, a pistol in his belt and a paint brush in his hand is the signature description of Diego Rivera, one of the world's greatest muralists. Young people will be enthralled over this fictionalized biography of an artist whose works were dedicated to the poor.

Born in 1886 in Mexico, frog-faced Diego was a child prodigy in the art world. His talents in drawing were far ahead of those in his age group. Diego was a rebellious one and defied the rules of priests, teachers, his family and school. "Diego was just being Deigo" was his father's refrain when given negative reports about his brilliant son.

The author covers the whole of Rivera's artistic career and shows us the best of his signature paintings and murals. Children can get the feel of the mischief of Diego, his commitment to the poor and his undying love for his painting. Diego's work as a muralist revived an art long dead and carried it to even greater heights. His work impacted many artists in the United States and all over the world who came to be taught under the feet of this great man.

Diego Rivera:Artist of the People is an excellent book for introducing children (ages 8-12) to Diego Rivera's muralist art, Mexican history and the development of Mexican art. A bibliography is provided for further reading about this great man and his work. Some of the photographs of Diego's works are in black and white. Those pictures take away the great splash and use of color that Rivera is known for in his works. Other than that minor flaw this book is a wonderful view of Mexico's greatest artist.

After a unit study on Abe Lincoln, we wondered why the sign for president was so unusual. This book contains the answer to this and much more. If you like the story of Helen Keller, you should like this.This man did a lot for the deaf children of N. America. Missions trips don't always have to be in a foreign land.This is a good read and family beware that the history of how some people treated deaf children is not nice.

This book was wonderful. It was full of detail and information on Thomas Gallaudet's life. The book answered all my questions. It also made me aware of how cruel our society has been towards the "different" ones, but also how they've changed. The book definitely shows a step towards a kinder world and shouldn't be out of print. Everybody should read this book, so they know that yes unfortunately all of ancestors has been cruel at sometime, even during a new era. The book is great and honest!

Neimark's "Myth Maker: J.R.R. Tolkien" is a biography of Tolkien the man, and makes no serious attempt at literary criticism or interpretation. That's fine, of course-- but the problem is that it's not a very *good* biography by any measure. Certainly, Neimark makes no points, raises no issues, and consults no sources that haven't been used in the much more insightful biographies by Daniel Grotta-Kurska (an unauthorized biography and Humphrey Carpenter (the Tolkien estate approved bio). Really, this seems seems to be a watered-down version of those biographies (more Carpenter's than Grotta-Kurska's, actually), briefly summarizing Tolkien's life and writings and doing so in fairly simplistic language. The low level of the prose, the simplistic presentation of Tolkien's life, and the presence of several illustrations inclines to be believe that this is a book intended for children (I'd say it was aimed at kids between 10-14... those who are old enough to read the Hobbit and Tolkien's other fiction on their own.). I'm not really sure what even Tolkien fans of this age will get out of this book though-- and I think any kids who are seriouslyinterested in Tolkien enough to want to read about him as a man would much prefer to find out *real information* in one of more substantive biographies.

Tolkien's life was great and this shows how he spent his free time. It shows his life from beginning to end with hardly anything missing.