Frida Catlo (Wild Bios) by Courtney Acampora and Maggie Fischer –OPTIONAL

Frida Catlo (Wild Bios) by Courtney Acampora and Maggie Fischer BOARD BOOK. Silver Dolphin Books (Readerlink), 2018. $8. 9781684125586

BUYING ADVISORY: PRE-K –OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

This is the mini biography of Frida Kahlo as told as though she was a cat. She is a Meowxican painter who specialty was paw-traits. She wore traditional clawthing. She was the first Meowxican artist to have a work purr-chased by the Louvre. Filled with bright illustrations of cheerful cats and dogs.

As an adult this was a fun and silly parody for a biography. But children really do take things like this is a bit literally. For example in the biography series Ordinary People Change the World, the main person is featured as a small bobblehead figure. Many teachers at my school bought the entire series. After being read this, second grade students at my school actually thought that Rosa Parks was a child when she rode on the bus, and that Martin Luther King Jr. was incredibly short. I’m not saying that young readers would think that Frida was actually a cat, but the imagery and creative wording certainly muddies the waters. My final opinion is that these are fun for grownups and a bit of waste for pre-k’s.

Reviewer: Stephanie MLS & Author.