M. Kovaļevska was a popular children's book illustrator in Latvia in the late 1930s and early 1940s, who continued her creative work in Germany and the USA after World War II. An apt characterist, especially sensitive to children's perceptions (her characters include astonished girls, confused shepherds, active children, brightly dressed gypsies, humanized animals, vegetables, flowers). M. Kovaļevska has illustrated about 30 books by different authors, as well as her own books. Often, drawings were first created for children's books, which were supplemented by the writers' text. Many Latvian families and Sunday schools in the USA had her works, but in Soviet-occupied Latvia the artist was almost forgotten. M. Kovaļevska created drawings both in Latvia for the magazines "Atpūta" and "Darba Siviete", and in exile for the magazines "Tilts" and "Latvju Siviete". Cartoons during the German occupation – in the newspaper “Līdums” and the magazine “Junda”. In 1944 she went as a refugee to Germany, where after the war she lived in DP (displaced persons) or so-called “dīpīšu” camps. From 1951, except for a short time in Spain, she lived in the USA – until 1958 in Tacoma, from 1959 in Washington.