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Before Wilma was five years old, polio had paralyzed her left leg. Everyone said she would never walk again. But Wilma refused to believe it. Not only would she walk again, she vowed, she'd run. And she did run—all the way to the Olympics, where she became the first American woman to earn three gold medals in a single olympiad.
"No one expected such a tiny girl to have a first birthday," begins this inspiring biographical sketch of a legendary track stars. Born in 1940 in Tennessee, the chronically sickly though "lively" Rudolph contracted polio just before her fifth birthday. Though not expected to walk again, the fiercely determined girl persevered with her leg exercises; by the time she was 12, she no longer needed her steel brace. Eight years later, Rudolph represented the U.S. in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where, despite a twisted ankle, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals during a single Olympic competition. Krull's (Lives of the Musicians) characteristic, conversational style serves her especially well here. Through her words the nearly superhuman Rudolph seems both personable and recognizable. Rendered in acrylic, watercolor and gouache, Caldecott Medalist Diaz's (Smoky Night) imposing, richly hued illustrations have a distinctive, cubist feel. The artist's bold design superimposes this art against sepia-toned photographs of relevant background images: playground sand, wooden fence slats, the gravel of a running track. This juxtaposition yields busy, effectively textured pages, flawed only by the text's curiously embellished font-the letters look as though they have been speckled with either ink blots or dust. A triumphant story, triumphantly relayed. Ages 7-12. (Apr.)
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William Randell
reviewed Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman on December 06, 2011
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman
Citation: Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman, Kathleen Krull, David Diaz (illustrator), Harcourt Brace and Company, 1996, 38p., Junior Book/Biography
Genre: Biography
Summary: This story is about the life of Olympic Gold Medalist, Wilma Rudolph, who soared through her circumstances when others set limits.
Critiques: a. The author tells the remarkable story of Wilma's life challenges, and the mixed media illustrations seem to surpass the words by boldly telling her story from endpapers to endpapers, in the foreground and background.
b. I think the strength of this book comes from the unity of the background photographs (with the coloring of negatives) and the naïve color rich paintings that seem to deliver emotional and symbolic commentary.
c. This portrayal can be seen on pages 10 and 11 (as well as copyright/dedication pages and the rear endpapers). On page 10 the text states Wilma was barred from attending school and was sad and lonely as she watched her siblings go off to school. On page 11, in the foreground, we see in color Wilma sitting at her window cradling a book while she is watching the other children walk to school through their yard past a white picket fence. We can tell from the painting that she longs to be with her siblings, but the background looks deeper into the cause of her sadness. Dominant in the background, is the black and white photograph of the white picket fence which seems to tell us the whole truth. The fence reminds us of her limitation and the condition of the fence suggests her emotional state. On the surface (foreground picture) the fence looks fine, but the background picture shows us how the fence has splinters, cracks, chipped paint and is worn. Wilma undoubtedly feels hurt, pricked, neglected, uncared for and contained by her disability. In addition to this, on the front endpapers we see a photograph of the unpainted side of fence with sparse vegetation, which would signify her bleak beginning. But the rear endpapers shows a photograph of the fence with flourishing vegetation, so much so that the fence (her disability) does not seem to exist, signifying the triumphant end of her story.
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