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What Isabella Wanted: Isabella Stewart Gardner Builds a Museum
From multiple award-winning author Candace Fleming and Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell comes the true story of a woman who always got what she wanted: Isabella Stewart Gardner.
For years, the indomitable Isabella Stewart Gardner searched the world for magnificent artwork and filled her home with a truly unique collection, with the aim of turning it into a museum, which she established in 1903.
Isabella always did things her own way. One day she'd wear baseball gear to the symphony, the next, she'd be seen strolling down the street with zoo lions. It was no surprised that she was very particular about how she arranged her exhibits. They were not organized historically, stylistically, or by artist. Instead, they were arranged based on the connections Isabella felt toward the art, a connection she hoped to encourage in her visitors.
For years, her museum delighted generations of Bostonians and visitors with the collections arranged exactly as she wanted. But in 1990, a spectacular burglary occurred when two thieves disguised as police officers stole thirteen paintings, valued at $500 million, including a Rembrandt and a Vermeer. They have yet to be recovered, though a $10 million reward is still being offered for their safe return.
Author Candace Fleming perfectly captures Isabella's inimitable personality and drive, accompanied by exuberant illustrations by Matthew Cordell.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A CCBC Choice
For years, the indomitable Isabella Stewart Gardner searched the world for magnificent artwork and filled her home with a truly unique collection, with the aim of turning it into a museum, which she established in 1903.
Isabella always did things her own way. One day she'd wear baseball gear to the symphony, the next, she'd be seen strolling down the street with zoo lions. It was no surprised that she was very particular about how she arranged her exhibits. They were not organized historically, stylistically, or by artist. Instead, they were arranged based on the connections Isabella felt toward the art, a connection she hoped to encourage in her visitors.
For years, her museum delighted generations of Bostonians and visitors with the collections arranged exactly as she wanted. But in 1990, a spectacular burglary occurred when two thieves disguised as police officers stole thirteen paintings, valued at $500 million, including a Rembrandt and a Vermeer. They have yet to be recovered, though a $10 million reward is still being offered for their safe return.
Author Candace Fleming perfectly captures Isabella's inimitable personality and drive, accompanied by exuberant illustrations by Matthew Cordell.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A CCBC Choice
40 pages, Hardcover
Published September 7, 2021
2 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Candace Fleming
66 books632 followersI have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
March 20, 2022
I had the pleasure of visiting the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the late 1980s, a few years before the theft that took some of its most precious and valuable works. It was nice to revisit the place through this fun and energetic tale of how the colorful and determined Gardner built her collection and museum.
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September 28, 2021Look under the dust cover for a surprise!
October 25, 2021
Isabella Stewart Gardner was an eccentric and rich Bostonian living at the turn of the last century. Known throughout upper crust society for her odd behavior and impulsivity (and great parties), Isabella began collecting some of the extraordinary world art (pictures, tapestries, pottery, sculptures) of the time and adding it to her massive mansion in the Fenway of Boston. History has complicated Isabella’s collection in that first, we are now aware that it’s not ok to go to another country and steal their art (Isabella brought artwork home any way she could – by purchasing, smuggling, bribery and pure theft) and second, in 1990 thieves broke into the Gardner Museum and stole thirteen works of art. Candace Fleming does a great job balancing all sides. It’s lovely to have so many works in one place but did Isabella have a right to them? Would the art be gone from the world today if Isabella hadn’t originally brought it to Boston? This is a great biography of not only Isabella Stewart Gardner but of her home and her collection.
September 21, 2022
Cultural raider builds palace, makes it into a museum, and then yells at visitors not to touch anything. I've never hosted a boxing match in my living room, but Isabella did.
October 18, 2021
If you're a true crime aficionado, or you listen to crime podcasts at all, I think the chances are pretty high that you've heard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist? It's hard for me to judge, because I'm in Massachusetts, and it's always been big news here, but it also seems like it's just in the everywhere-ether lately, so I'm going to guess most people have heard of it. If not, brief recap: a couple of apparently genius masterminds (not really: the working theory is that these two are doofuses who lucked out but also know how to keep their mouths shut) posed as Boston cops, made the overnight 'security' guard (bc again: widely acknowledged to just be a whole nother doofus who liked overnights bc it meant he could basically sleep/be high/hungover through his whole shift, and therefore not that much actual security for MILLIONS of dollars of priceless art) let them in, tied up the two overnight guards, and stole the selection of art ever (13 pieces in total, of which Vermeer's The Concert & Rembrandt's Christ in The Storm on The Sea of Galilee are the most famous) and were in and out in under 81 minutes. That was in 1990, and the case continues to be unsolved in 2021, although theories abound & the reward is currently at $10 million. (I have thoughts, but that's not the point of this review.)
But aside from that little piece of notoriety, I doubt many people outside of the museum world, or the Greater Boston area, know all that much about Isabella Stuart Gardner or her amazing museum, and that's a damn shame. Enter Candace Fleming's pretty detailed account of her life, times, & legacy.
Much like Zheng Yi Sao, history had the impetus & ability to forget all about Isabella Stuart Gardner, or as she was often known in her own lifetime "Mrs. Jack Gardner." Born to wealth and privilege in NYC in 1840, then marrying into Boston wealth & privilege 20 years later, Isabella managed to carve out her own niche among even the upper crust of Boston society: the Boston Brahamins she married into didn't know what they were in for, and Fleming takes every opportunity to point that out. She talks about Isabella parading zoo lions down main streets, basically shocking everybody and not "giving a good goddamn," as my own Boston (but in no way Brahamin) Nana would have said.
And that was before she started 'collecting' art through all and any means, transporting it back to Boston & literally helping to build her own show palace, brick by brick. Isabella was ... particular about her art & how it should be displayed, and the author discusses that in great detail as well.
"Pirate."
Now, we say 'collecting' art in a general, euphemistic sort of way, the way that anybody talks about art that was 'collected' more than 100 years ago, but, as Fleming describes in the author's notes: "To get around these laws, Isabella urged her art buyers to create fake bills of sale, or smuggle objects out in false-bottomed trucks. Isabella saw this as saving the art. Nowadays, we would call it cultural raiding. And we would call Isabella a thief." Or, as Jack Sparrow would say:
During & after her forays into piracy abroad, Isabella basically built an Italian palazzo - complete with courtyard - in the swamps of a Boston neighborhood that was then pretty much undeveloped (there are some other landmarks there now that you might be familiar with: It's called the Fenway), and everybody thought she was out of her mind. She lived on the fourth floor, and spent D E C A D E S filling, arranging, rearranging, and perfecting the placement of each piece of artwork, furniture, painting, porcelain, and every single knickknack. During her lifetime, she opened the doors to the paying public for just 20 days each year, and spent a good portion of that time, according to Fleming (and her annotated author's note) following people around hollering at them not to touch things.
I've been to the Gardner, pre-Covid, and yeah: if there weren't ropes up and spaces where you obviously can't get at the exhibits, I can see how people would just sit at the desks, or leaf through her travel diaries, like the set pieces they are. Eventually, she had to hire security to make sure people weren't pocketing priceless treasures or even just one of her many fountain pens, which is ironic in more than one way, Ms. Isabella: You just pocketed those priceless treasures, friend/Also... your security is gonna wind up being an issue somewhere else down the line.
Matthew Cordell, who has illustrated the Museum here in astonishing detail, captures the classic works, Isabella herself, and all the various plot points - including the 1990 robbery - with movement & energy. Particularly excellent, I think, are the pages where you can see just how those empty frames remain today: up on the walls, fabric wallpaper prominently displayed, as they await the return of the (twice) purloined masterpieces.
I actually would've liked to hear a little bit more about Isabella's early life, or her own world travels, but I imagine that's because I already knew most of the basics that Fleming talks about, because I've been interested in her for a long time. I do know a factoid that is not mentioned in the book...that the Gardeners first started their world travels after the death of their infant son from pneumonia, after Isabella fell into what the Gardener Museum website calls 'a depression', but what I, many many years ago, heard a tour guide describe as 'her suicidal despair', which I cannot in any way fault her for. Said tour guide also had notions about calling the Museum Isabella's 'baby', but my teacher was having none of that nonsense and quickly made her move on, so I suppose that's all in 'take it with a grain of salt' territory. That said, I still thought a lot of Isabella's character managed to come through in this story, so this book gets a big thumbs up from me too.
All in all, both books (reviewed w/Pirate Queen) are fascinating looks at women who didn't follow the roles & rules their society set out for them, and both of them are great adds to any 'feminist in training' bookshelves you may/should be building for the littles in your lives. It's just a bonus that they're also well-written tributes to women we should've learned about ourselves, growing up. I'm also just going to include one last piece of trivia here, because it is my favorite thing about the Gardener Museum: If your name is Isabella, you have a lifetime free pass to the museum. It's a small, nonsense why-is-this-even-a-thing, thing, but I love it with all my heart.
But aside from that little piece of notoriety, I doubt many people outside of the museum world, or the Greater Boston area, know all that much about Isabella Stuart Gardner or her amazing museum, and that's a damn shame. Enter Candace Fleming's pretty detailed account of her life, times, & legacy.
Much like Zheng Yi Sao, history had the impetus & ability to forget all about Isabella Stuart Gardner, or as she was often known in her own lifetime "Mrs. Jack Gardner." Born to wealth and privilege in NYC in 1840, then marrying into Boston wealth & privilege 20 years later, Isabella managed to carve out her own niche among even the upper crust of Boston society: the Boston Brahamins she married into didn't know what they were in for, and Fleming takes every opportunity to point that out. She talks about Isabella parading zoo lions down main streets, basically shocking everybody and not "giving a good goddamn," as my own Boston (but in no way Brahamin) Nana would have said.
And that was before she started 'collecting' art through all and any means, transporting it back to Boston & literally helping to build her own show palace, brick by brick. Isabella was ... particular about her art & how it should be displayed, and the author discusses that in great detail as well.
"Pirate."
Now, we say 'collecting' art in a general, euphemistic sort of way, the way that anybody talks about art that was 'collected' more than 100 years ago, but, as Fleming describes in the author's notes: "To get around these laws, Isabella urged her art buyers to create fake bills of sale, or smuggle objects out in false-bottomed trucks. Isabella saw this as saving the art. Nowadays, we would call it cultural raiding. And we would call Isabella a thief." Or, as Jack Sparrow would say:
During & after her forays into piracy abroad, Isabella basically built an Italian palazzo - complete with courtyard - in the swamps of a Boston neighborhood that was then pretty much undeveloped (there are some other landmarks there now that you might be familiar with: It's called the Fenway), and everybody thought she was out of her mind. She lived on the fourth floor, and spent D E C A D E S filling, arranging, rearranging, and perfecting the placement of each piece of artwork, furniture, painting, porcelain, and every single knickknack. During her lifetime, she opened the doors to the paying public for just 20 days each year, and spent a good portion of that time, according to Fleming (and her annotated author's note) following people around hollering at them not to touch things.
I've been to the Gardner, pre-Covid, and yeah: if there weren't ropes up and spaces where you obviously can't get at the exhibits, I can see how people would just sit at the desks, or leaf through her travel diaries, like the set pieces they are. Eventually, she had to hire security to make sure people weren't pocketing priceless treasures or even just one of her many fountain pens, which is ironic in more than one way, Ms. Isabella: You just pocketed those priceless treasures, friend/Also... your security is gonna wind up being an issue somewhere else down the line.
Matthew Cordell, who has illustrated the Museum here in astonishing detail, captures the classic works, Isabella herself, and all the various plot points - including the 1990 robbery - with movement & energy. Particularly excellent, I think, are the pages where you can see just how those empty frames remain today: up on the walls, fabric wallpaper prominently displayed, as they await the return of the (twice) purloined masterpieces.
I actually would've liked to hear a little bit more about Isabella's early life, or her own world travels, but I imagine that's because I already knew most of the basics that Fleming talks about, because I've been interested in her for a long time. I do know a factoid that is not mentioned in the book...that the Gardeners first started their world travels after the death of their infant son from pneumonia, after Isabella fell into what the Gardener Museum website calls 'a depression', but what I, many many years ago, heard a tour guide describe as 'her suicidal despair', which I cannot in any way fault her for. Said tour guide also had notions about calling the Museum Isabella's 'baby', but my teacher was having none of that nonsense and quickly made her move on, so I suppose that's all in 'take it with a grain of salt' territory. That said, I still thought a lot of Isabella's character managed to come through in this story, so this book gets a big thumbs up from me too.
All in all, both books (reviewed w/Pirate Queen) are fascinating looks at women who didn't follow the roles & rules their society set out for them, and both of them are great adds to any 'feminist in training' bookshelves you may/should be building for the littles in your lives. It's just a bonus that they're also well-written tributes to women we should've learned about ourselves, growing up. I'm also just going to include one last piece of trivia here, because it is my favorite thing about the Gardener Museum: If your name is Isabella, you have a lifetime free pass to the museum. It's a small, nonsense why-is-this-even-a-thing, thing, but I love it with all my heart.
December 2, 2021
I'm not so much into celebrating rich people who can trample over all sorts of things to get what they want. Not to mention rich people who have the ego to dictate that no one can move your things around in your house, even a century after you've died.
Read for Librarian Book Gropu
Read for Librarian Book Gropu
November 17, 2021
If you want to learn more about the 1990 unsolved robbery there is a Netflix documentary called This Is A Robbery.
July 10, 2023
I found this a little perplexing but perhaps that is the point. I think it does a good job of conveying Isabella's forceful, somewhat quirky, personality. It doesn't put her on a pedestal, and I'm glad of that. After all, some of what she did was perhaps beyond indulgence to utter self-centeredness and I feel they also do a good job, in the back matter, of presenting that, while she believed she was "saving" art from Europe and Asia, she skirted many laws to do so and would be seen today as cultural raiding. Yet, we also see that her passion created a truly amazing art museum that benefited many, and, at a time when many women felt imprisoned by the confines of society, Isabella lived her life exactly what she wanted and there's something admirable in that (granted, she was able to do in large part thanks to her tremendous fortune, but, still.) I'm a little unsure of the ending of the book; I almost feel it would have played better if they'd ended with Isabella's legacy of the museum and left the art heist off of the story proper and kept it to the back matter as I could imagine it being a little unsettling or deflating for younger children and I also felt it was a little confusing as to exactly how much had been stolen. The back matter clears that up and is quite well done and includes a bibliography. Unfortunately, I feel the illustrations here were not a good fit with a story about art. The style just doesn't work as a showcase for the famous pieces of art that Isabella acquired as they are very hard to distinguish. I think the art conveys a kind of frenetic energy, in a way, that maybe is reflective of Isabella's personality, but I think something where the works of art could actually be identifiable would have been a better choice for a book meant to educate and inspire children.
October 3, 2024
love the art style
November 28, 2021
A fascinating picture book biography about a lesser-known woman in art. I love that it doesn’t shy away from the idea of cultural raiding - both in the text and the back matter.
Want to read
July 13, 2021Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
September 29, 2021
Wow! Beautifully written and full of emotion. I didn’t read the blurb before the book, so the ending truly surprised me.
November 2, 2021
Active, looser style of art fits the energetic, rule-breaking Isabella shared in this illustrated biography. Not much is really shared about her personal life (eg who she married that had all that money) but the focus is on Isabella's collecting, the art, and the creation of her gallery with its strict rules even after her death. The format of an illustrated 'picture book' for the biography of Isabella Steward Gardner is good. Some of the pages have the same filled, busy, cluttered feeling as her gallery must. The end papers and the opening and closing illustrations of the mansion are the only places your eyes can really rest. I imagine kids' interests will be piqued with the mystery of the theft at the end.
Love the jacket art that when lifted reveals a shocked Isabella and empty frames, that if seen, gives a hint of what's to come in the book. The opening of the book is before the title page and reminds me of the beginning of Madeline by Bemelmans--the cadence of the text and the image of the large old mansion. Perhaps this is to signal that the inhabitant of this old Boston mansion was another strong willed person who didn't always act or do as society thought she should.
Faces are expressive, both for Isabella and those around her. Some of the expressions such as the first time we see Isabella in an art museum, shows that her taste in art was not necessarily everyone's. There's also humor in the faces of the fellow museum visitors, her agents smuggling art, and Isabella herself as she orders others around.
While Isabella doesn't age, the passage of time is shown through small squares each set in a different time period. Adult readers will likely recognize that Isabella was widowed due to her black clothing. Elementary students may not know the depicted time, but the change in clothing and hair is clear enough in each square to help them understand. And then a two-page spread in blue wash of the thieves breaking in and stealing the art. One disappears off the page as the two thieves leave the museum with the art.
Colors aren't too bright except for some pops of pink and the occasional bright green.
The note at the end provides more information that adults can share. I liked the author calling out Isabella's "collecting" or "saving" really as raiding and that Isabella herself was a thief.
Love the jacket art that when lifted reveals a shocked Isabella and empty frames, that if seen, gives a hint of what's to come in the book. The opening of the book is before the title page and reminds me of the beginning of Madeline by Bemelmans--the cadence of the text and the image of the large old mansion. Perhaps this is to signal that the inhabitant of this old Boston mansion was another strong willed person who didn't always act or do as society thought she should.
Faces are expressive, both for Isabella and those around her. Some of the expressions such as the first time we see Isabella in an art museum, shows that her taste in art was not necessarily everyone's. There's also humor in the faces of the fellow museum visitors, her agents smuggling art, and Isabella herself as she orders others around.
While Isabella doesn't age, the passage of time is shown through small squares each set in a different time period. Adult readers will likely recognize that Isabella was widowed due to her black clothing. Elementary students may not know the depicted time, but the change in clothing and hair is clear enough in each square to help them understand. And then a two-page spread in blue wash of the thieves breaking in and stealing the art. One disappears off the page as the two thieves leave the museum with the art.
Colors aren't too bright except for some pops of pink and the occasional bright green.
The note at the end provides more information that adults can share. I liked the author calling out Isabella's "collecting" or "saving" really as raiding and that Isabella herself was a thief.
October 3, 2021
The talented Candace Fleming can do no wrong in my eyes when it comes to storytelling. Not only does she select fascinating individuals or creatures for her books, but she unfurls their stories in intriguing fashion. In this picture book, her subject is wealthy Boston socialite Isabel Stewart Gardner who didn't fit the expected mold for women of her social class at that time--the late nineteenth century. She enjoyed shocking others and following her own beat. Discovering art treasures on a trip to Europe, she began buying paintings for her home, and upon her return, she hired others to ferret out other collectibles. Eventually, she devoted three floors of her mansion to her collection and lived on the fourth floor. She was the curator, spending hours deciding where to place each object, and after opening the museum to the general public, admonishing visitors not to touch anything and to leave everything exactly as she had arranged it. As interesting as all of this is, the surprise in the story comes near the end when two thieves stole $550 million worth of artwork in 1990, a crime that has never been solved. Readers can only imagine that Isabella is impatiently waiting for her treasures to be returned to their rightful place, exactly where she placed them. Back matter includes a portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner painted by John Singer Sargent, resources to learn more about her, and information about how many of the objects she collected were smuggled into this country and would be considered cultural raiding today. The author's sure handling of this topic makes the biography worth reading as Isabella's determination to have everything her way comes through loud and clear on every page. Incredibly detailed illustrations created with pen, ink, and watercolor complement the story and lend a vivacity to Isabella and her collection, filled with pieces of great value and those that had significance only for her.
February 13, 2022
I was surprised - in a good way - to find this book on the new bookshelf in my library. I immediately knew it would be an excellent book based on the author alone! The topic is Isabella Stewart; and I would think that if you live in Boston and are familiar the museum - AND - the "heist", you already might know some of her story, if not this us a unique and very cool picture book biography. I live in New Jersey, and I saw the Netflix documentary - "This is a Robbery", which I found riveting, but I didn't know too much about Isabella Stewart's eccentric collection of art and art collecting. Without giving any "plot" information away, it can be said that Isabella certainly did things "her way" and this alone makes her an interesting subject in the art world and within local Boston lore. The museum itself, does not resemble a traditional art museum, but the collection acquired by Isabella contains a broad collection of various art forms, including, of course, paintings by some of the "Masters" - despite the fact that some of them are still "missing". How those paintings are still a part of the museum, is a part of the uniqueness of Isabella and the museum and makes the story intriguing. as a read aloud, this is a fine example of " being independent" and/or someone who "did things HER way, despite what anyone would think". This a fun and interesting book all around - Candace Fleming keeps the tone just right; enough intrigue about the missing paintings is given to elicit good questions and answer with young readers, and Matt Cordell's artwork contains a sense of action and movement that reflects the text very well. Highly recommended for all ages.
October 4, 2021
I love Candace Fleming's work. She could have written a book praising Isabella Stewart Gardner for her philanthropy without mentioning that some of the artwork was acquired with less than honorable practices. In fact, Candace states unequivocally that Isabella was a thief. Her motivation was to acquire the art that she liked (and wanted) and then share it with the public. With certain conditions. She was definitely wealthy. And eccentric - she had money and she did what she wanted however she wanted to do it. Boston was way too stuffy for her - she traveled all over Europe and fell in love with art. ART! She bought several pieces legally and brought them home. Then she decided to acquire more and more - sometimes using unethical methods for doing so. When she died she left behind her museum for people to enjoy - as long as nothing was ever rearranged. In 1990, two thieves disguised as policemen stole several of the paintings from her museum. They have never been recovered.
A complex, fascinating woman.
I also enjoyed Matthew Cordell's illustrations. They did a great job of bringing the museum to life.
A complex, fascinating woman.
I also enjoyed Matthew Cordell's illustrations. They did a great job of bringing the museum to life.
March 27, 2023
I never had a chance to visit the museum while living in Boston, but I knew of it. I somehow didn't learn about the heist until after I moved away, and now I wish I had visited because it's such a strange concept for a museum compared to what we normally think of. Isabella Gardner was eccentric and found beauty in collecting art, even through illegal means in what would be called "cultural raiding" and "thieving" today. She turned her home into a museum and opened for 20 days per year, allowing visitors to see the "mishmash" of her collection from a Rembrandt painting to things she used. Cordell's pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations capture Gardner's "brash" and "extravagant" personality that came through in every step of the museum's creation. It may inspire readers to learn more about "one of America's most enduring crime mysteries" in Tom Sullivan's Unsolved Case Files: The 500 Million Dollar Heist.
December 5, 2022
This is a wonderful picture book biography that really captures the spirit and drive of Isabella Stewart Gardner. Born into money and marrying more, Isabella arrowed through life doing and getting precisely what she wanted. Luckily for art lovers, she loved, acquired and treasured beautiful art work and her home/museum is one of my absolute favorites. Had Isabella been alive when the theft occurred, I believe she would be still be actively hunting the thieves and her art work right now!
The sight of those empty frames is incredibly sad.
While the tone of the book is light-hearted, the text does an excellent job of introducing Gardner to young readers and provides much historical information along the way. Excellent back matter provides much additional information.
Matt Cordell's illustrations are terrific fun and reflect the overall spirit and tone of the book. Great fun!
The sight of those empty frames is incredibly sad.
While the tone of the book is light-hearted, the text does an excellent job of introducing Gardner to young readers and provides much historical information along the way. Excellent back matter provides much additional information.
Matt Cordell's illustrations are terrific fun and reflect the overall spirit and tone of the book. Great fun!
October 29, 2021
Possible contender for the Mock Caldecott voting in January 2022. The story of Isabella Stewart Gardner and her drive to do whatever she wanted to do no matter how outlandish and no matter what anyone else thought about her. She traveled extensively and collected millions of dollars worth of art and then carefully arranged it in her own home...just the way she liked it...and displayed it next to souvenirs that were only special to her. For 10 days every year she opened her home to the public for the slight fee of $1 a person so that everyone could appreciate her wonderful collections. In 1990, many years after her death, 2 men disguised as policemen broke in and stole 13 works of art, totaling $500,000,000. To this day, the missing items have not been found.
September 18, 2024
Requested the book from our library. I've read a couple of Candace Fleming's books and have enjoyed them. Recently I read a new biography on Isabella Stewart Gardner. This book is geared for ages: 4-8. And for those 4 -8 years olds who love museums! A very small subset. Still this would be a lovely book for a child that visits the museum. It's a gem of a museum in Boston! Lovely illustrations. What would John Singer Sargent think of the illustrations. And I'm sure Isabella Stewart Gardner would have an opinion on the book!
NICE to read a book in one sitting! And reading the comments, I just looked under the dustcover! Her SHOCK that some of her paintings were stolen. Thank goodness she wasn't alive when it happened.
NICE to read a book in one sitting! And reading the comments, I just looked under the dustcover! Her SHOCK that some of her paintings were stolen. Thank goodness she wasn't alive when it happened.
September 17, 2024
Join Isabella Stewart Gardner as she searches the world for unique artwork to bring back to her home, a large mansion, to display! She always wanted to turn her house into a museum, so other people could enjoy her treasures, too. Will her dream come true?
I absolutely loved this book!
I had no idea who Isabella Gardner was when I started reading this book, and fell in love with her story as I read along! She's so fascinating, and is really a treat to learn about!
The illustrations are so so amazing, and match the story perfectly!
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do! Thank you for reading my review! Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for fun book recommendations!
I absolutely loved this book!
I had no idea who Isabella Gardner was when I started reading this book, and fell in love with her story as I read along! She's so fascinating, and is really a treat to learn about!
The illustrations are so so amazing, and match the story perfectly!
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do! Thank you for reading my review! Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for fun book recommendations!
July 9, 2021
It's baby's first unsolved mystery! Charming illustrations and sweet, sing-songy prose bring the story of Isabella Stewart Gardner to life. Gardner, one of the most influential women in the history of art collecting, was certainly a force to be reckoned with. I got a kick out of the image of Gardner showing off her collection on the front cover - the pieces displayed behind her are all ones lost in the heist. Who knows, maybe a child reading this book might recognize a painting or two from up in grandma's attic!
December 13, 2022
I'm a bit of a sucker for illustrated biographies and this one is a great one!
I've heard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as I am a museum enjoyer and due to the theft, but this a wonderful dedication to how it came to be and what happened! A good read for younger audiences to learn and a quick read for older audiences to enjoy, the illustrations are wonderful!
It has some information about Isabella in the back, which is great for those who want the facts and sources!
Definitely an enjoyable read!
I've heard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as I am a museum enjoyer and due to the theft, but this a wonderful dedication to how it came to be and what happened! A good read for younger audiences to learn and a quick read for older audiences to enjoy, the illustrations are wonderful!
It has some information about Isabella in the back, which is great for those who want the facts and sources!
Definitely an enjoyable read!
January 20, 2023
I wish there was more to the story! Isabella knew what she wanted. She had all the vision and the means to create a museum to her liking which included paintings and chairs, artifacts, and even a lock of hair. She had it all shipped over to Boston and set it up precisely how she wanted. (Though I wanted more explanation because it mentioned they were not always legal means of getting them).
Then someone stole items in the middle of the night and there the museum stands with the stolen pieces still missing.
I need more about this mystery and this mysterious woman!
Then someone stole items in the middle of the night and there the museum stands with the stolen pieces still missing.
I need more about this mystery and this mysterious woman!
July 23, 2023
Isabella Stewart Gardner lived in Boston, loved art, built a big home, and created her own library in her home. She willed that library to the city on her passing and it remains a museum!
Wow! Interesting story with a true life main character and a fascinating art theft mystery, as well. I did not know about this woman, her love of art, or her gift to Boston. I did not think I would love this book so much. I am grateful for the suggestion. This book is quite interesting. Candace Fleming has a gift for storytelling. This is a good choice!
Wow! Interesting story with a true life main character and a fascinating art theft mystery, as well. I did not know about this woman, her love of art, or her gift to Boston. I did not think I would love this book so much. I am grateful for the suggestion. This book is quite interesting. Candace Fleming has a gift for storytelling. This is a good choice!
December 23, 2024
What I Enjoyed:
While the book is very educational, the art and writing made this book super fun.
Why I Don’t Recommend It:
Although this book attempts to portray Gardener positively (applauding her agency, her disregard for others’ opinions in a society which believed women should play a limited role, etc.), Gardener comes across as self-centered and entitled. She also acquired much of her collection through illegal smuggling. The informational page in the back outright calls her a thief, mentioning that her actions would be labeled today as “cultural raiding.”
While the book is very educational, the art and writing made this book super fun.
Why I Don’t Recommend It:
Although this book attempts to portray Gardener positively (applauding her agency, her disregard for others’ opinions in a society which believed women should play a limited role, etc.), Gardener comes across as self-centered and entitled. She also acquired much of her collection through illegal smuggling. The informational page in the back outright calls her a thief, mentioning that her actions would be labeled today as “cultural raiding.”
May 7, 2025
I got this to read to my artist child. While the story has a lot to say about loving art, I don't feel like it engages critically at all with the less than moral way this rich person used their wealth to not just buy, but steal a lot of the cultural history of other places. The book talks cheekily about how Isabella's agents used less-than-legal methods to get some of her art, and talks about it in a Bugs Bunny, "Ain't I a stinker?" winking way.
That isn't a message I want to reinforce to my kids.
That isn't a message I want to reinforce to my kids.
November 19, 2025
I liked the charming drawings and artistic style of the illustrations, but the narrative is not amounting to much substance--basically a rich brat wife who just love to buy whatever she desired, even through illicit schemes, to please herself. Yes it was nice that she opened her mansion to display her collection but seems like it's more for bragging her possessions rather than celebrating the history and culture behind the pieces. I have been to the IGM and didn't feel compelled to revisit, compared to the neighboring MFA.
October 27, 2021
A picture book biography of the eccentric Bostonian art collector, Isabella Stewart Gardner, that focuses on her creation of her art museum. The recent attention in the museum's unsolved art heist in 1990 may generate more interest than would otherwise be paid to a private art museum. This book gives an even handed description of Gardner's collecting, including the fact that illegal means were sometimes used to purchase art work. And don't miss the informative back matter!
April 17, 2024
This book documents the eccentric life of Isabella Gardner. She collected art, beautiful things and anything else that caught her fancy. Wife of a millionaire she arranged her collections as she saw fit and invited people to come and view her art collection. In the 1980's thirteen works of art were stolen by men posing as policemen, one of them a Vermeer. To this day the paintings have not been recovered. This picture book is a perfect blend of mystery and art history.
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