There is one complaint I have about You Can Move Mountains: The Artful Life of Painter Bob Ross by Richard Ho and illustrated by Daniel Miyares (it came out in August 2026; ut read via an online reader before that date, and took forever to post this review) is that the images of Bob Ross himself do not exactly look like him. You know it is him, but it is just a smidgen off.
What is not off is that the illustrations that represent his paintings could have jumped off his canvas. The spirit of Ross is there. If you are looking for a biography, then this is not it (though there are facts in the images and in an afterward), but it is a “You can do this” story. You are shown (in the way of Bob Ross) how to move a mountain. It is soft, but also has an odd solidness to it. 
Airy in tone and look, this is a sweet self-esteem story with a few facts about the author. I was not blown away, but I was satisfied. I didn’t have room for more after reading. Sure it is more of a self-esteem story, that is a smidgen on the sweeter side, but that works. As again, the spirit of Ross is alive and well on the pages of Ho and Miyares’ book.
I was trying to expand my review a bit and used that nasty thing called AI… and it came up with: “The narrative structure mirrors Ross’s own television persona—calm, encouraging, and deeply meditative. And mirrors his “happy accidents” philosophy.” And I am sorry to say that is what I want to say about the book. This is a feel-good story to read. It’s cozy, nice, and pleasant that can be adapted to most readers and/or listeners.
