A soothing, creativity-fostering account.
Biography meets an affirming painting tutorial in this offering centered on the iconic host of PBS’s The Joy of Painting.
“You start with a blank canvas. / Any size or shape will do. / Because the canvas is your world…” Second-person narration guides readers through basic instructions for painting on canvas. Corresponding images tell the story of Bob Ross (1942-1995), the small-screen painting instructor famous for his philosophy that there are no mistakes, only “happy accidents.” Sometimes Ho’s text draws a connection to Ross’s life as an artist: The words “You fill a palette with globs of paint” appear above an illustration of young Ross finger-painting in his high chair. At other times the text is more open-ended: “The canvas beckons. / A limitless sky, and a waiting horizon” finds Ross as a young man in front of an armed forces recruiting center. Young readers whose PBS-viewing habits are limited to children’s fare will likely have no idea who Bob Ross was—and Ho keeps things vague until a more concrete author’s note—but they should nevertheless enjoy the book’s calming, Ross-like narration and Miyares’ ink-and-gouache art: It looks woodblocky at times and painterly at others and suggests a talent unlikely to have been cultivated while watching an instructional TV show, no matter how good.
A soothing, creativity-fostering account. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2026
ISBN: 9781250782991
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
A supplemental rather than introductory book on the great artist.
Frida Kahlo’s strong affection for and identification with animals form the lens through which readers view her life and work in this picture-book biography.
Each two-page spread introduces one or more of her pets, comparing her characteristics to theirs and adding biographical details. Confusingly for young readers, the beginning pages reference pets she owned as an adult, yet the illustrations and events referred to come from earlier in her life. Bonito the parrot perches in a tree overlooking young Frida and her family in her childhood home and pops up again later, just before the first mention of Diego Rivera. Granizo, the fawn, another pet from her adult years, is pictured beside a young Frida and her father along with a description of “her life as a little girl.” The author’s note adds important details about Kahlo’s life and her significance as an artist, as well as recommending specific paintings that feature her beloved animals. Expressive acrylic paintings expertly evoke Kahlo’s style and color palette. While young animal lovers will identify with her attachment to her pets and may enjoy learning about the Aztec origins of her Xolo dogs and the meaning of turkeys in ancient Mexico, the book may be of most interest to those who already have an interest in Kahlo’s life.
A supplemental rather than introductory book on the great artist. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4269-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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