An inspiring account of an artist who fought misogyny at each turn—and triumphed.
Jewish painter Theresa Bernstein (1890-2002) fought to get a foothold in the male-dominated art world.
Gifted with a photographic memory, Bernstein began sketching and painting as a child. After attending the Philadelphia School of Art and Design for Women, she struggled to establish herself as an artist. When one of Bernstein’s paintings was defaced right before a contest, she worked through the night to re-create it and won first prize. That sense of determination comes through strongly throughout; though a female fellow artist told her she was better off pursuing secretarial work, Bernstein persisted, and when she discovered that male painters were given more opportunities for solo shows, she started signing her work “T. Bernstein.” She faced antisemitism as well; on a trip to Gloucester, Massachusetts, she had to stay in a friend’s attic, as no inns in the area would give her a room. Despite hardship, she became a highly regarded artist. Bernstein lived to the astonishing age of 111 and continued to paint, even when a broken arm at age 106 landed her in the hospital. Hechter’s text is well researched, detailed, easy to follow, and accessible to children. Her appropriately painterly illustrations burst with color and contain effective reproductions of Bernstein’s art. Bright freeform endpapers introduce the subject perfectly.
An inspiring account of an artist who fought misogyny at each turn—and triumphed. (author’s note, photo) (Picture-book biogrpahy. 4-8)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9798765643273
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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