Wilma sin limites: Como Wilma Rudolph se convirtio en la mujer mas rapida del mundo Book

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.