Following are reviews people have sent to me and links to published reviews. Most of these are from 2011-2012 when I first published Great Rescues Calendar, but the reviews apply to what is still the same: the art and the stories. Please feel free to add your comments in the box at the bottom of the page.
Allia Zobel-Nolan on Great Rescues
Received my copy of GREAT RESCUES, a most exquisite book/calendar jammed-packed with irresistible fine-art paintings of cats of all kinds, and wonderous stories about them, painted and penned by BERNADETTE E. KAZMARSKI…I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK; give it 4 paws up. See for yourself @ http://greatrescuescalendar.com/
Yes, you’re already there, but please also visit Allia’s website, www.alliawrites.com! She’s the author of…at last count something like 170 books (probably more by now), including gift books for cat lovers and illustrated children’s books, and she’s won so many awards you’ll just have to go and read about them all. I’m thrilled at her comments!
______________________________________________________
Ingrid King of The Conscious Cat Reviews “Great Rescues”
I’m a big fan of animal artist and writer Bernadette Kazmarski. Her photographs and cat paintings capture the essence of cats in ways that only a small handful of artists are able to do. Bernadette is a multi-faceted creative spirit: artist, writer, graphic designer, painter, animal advocate, environmentalist. From commissioned pet portraits to animal inspired merchandise ranging from prints to textiles to greeting cards, looking around Bernadette’s websites are a feast for the senses.
Chris Davis of Lighthearted Press Reviews Great Rescues
“When my Great Rescues Calendar arrived I tore open the package like a kid on Christmas morning!”
Chris Davis, a mentor and inspiration, writes a review of Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book on her blog: Chris Davis Blog: Great Rescues Calendar gets a 4 paws-up rating!.
And she also emailed to me in addition to her review:
Bernadette, I sat down last night and read your calendar from cover to cover – it’s fabulous! Like a good book, I didn’t want it to end. Every cat lover should have one of these calendars. The stories are uplifting, and the notes and quotes you put on the calendar pages are helpful and inspiring.
I think you’ve created something very special here. Your stunning artwork jumps off each page. I enjoyed reading the additional info at the end, where you told more of each heartwarming story.
As an extra special gift, you included all those resources and important info at the back for anyone who shares their life with a cat. What a treasure! I’m delighted with this extraordinary work of art. I think all the love and care you give to your kitties was also given to this calendar…and it shows!
Congratulations, Bernadette – you’ve got a winner, here!
Cheers, Chris
______________________________________________________
A Review by Marion Lane, former editor ASPCA Animal Watch
Bernadette Kazmarski calls Great Rescues, her one-woman work of wonders a “calendar,” and it is, but that’s just for starters. Literally. The first thirty-two pages of the 8”x8” spiral-bound book comprise a sixteen-month calendar that runs from September 2011 to December 2012. Each two-page spread features the true story of one or more rescued cats, together with Bernadette’s exquisitely detailed portraits of them (all in all, twenty-two cats are pictured). The calendar pages have room for appointments, some blank lines for notes, a famous feline-friendly quotation, a tip that sets the tone for the month, and more special days that honor cats and other animals than you’ve ever seen listed in one place.
The middle section of the book contains a few pages to update the rescue stories and discuss the making of the individual portraits, then a dozen pages of resources. A cat rescuer herself for twenty-five years, Bernadette states that the information she has chosen to include is what people most commonly ask about. All the basics are there, and they reflect the central theme of the book—which is the human/cat bond: adoption, routine and emergency veterinary care, spay and neuter, household hazards, pet loss support.
At this point the book becomes a journal. There are forty pages with lines ready to record all the clever things your cats do or to track their growth or maybe chart their veterinary visits and medication schedules. Or not. Here’s a different plan: How about committing to one action per day, small or large, in support of cat rescue? S-t-r-e-t-c-h your imagination to come up with as many different actions as possible, maybe even a different one for every day of the year. Bernadette has sprinkled ideas throughout Great Rescues that will spark your creativity.
This book is dedicated to Bernadette’s first family of cats. All long since departed from the physical world, she notes that they are made immortal in everything she creates. That’s a lot of immortality, as she has drawn the portraits, written the stories, compiled the resources and then designed the thing and finally published it herself. Lovely to look at and read and hold in the hands, Great Rescues is an altogether “up” experience, where people are compassionate and good, and however troubled their beginnings, all cat stories have happy endings.
Marion Lane
Former Editor, ASPCA Animal Watch Magazine
Cobleskill, New York
Amy Shojai “Mentions” Great Rescues on her blog today!
Monday Mentions: Cat Art, Dog Sperm Detectors & PhD Sheep « Amy Shojai’s Blog.
My colleague Bernadette Kazmarski has published her first book Great Rescues Calendar that sings the praises of the many cats she’s met over the years.
And she featured Cooper’s portrait!
Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified animal behavior consultant, award winning author, and spokesperson to the pet industry. If you have a library of animal health and behavior books, you’ll probably see her name on at least one of them. She is also a founding member of and former president of the Cat Writer’s Association, which is how I met her.
Read more or purchase
To purchase see below, or please browse the rest of the site to read more about the contents using the menus on each page or use the links below to read about each section.
Purchase a copy of Great Rescues Day Book
©2011-2025 Bernadette E. Kazmarski | All Rights Reserved.
No content may be used without WRITTEN PERMISSION from the author.
Great Rescues Calendar and Great Rescues Day Book are published by Beauty of a Moment Publishing
Site designed by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Leave a Reply