Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The best surprise I’ve had so far this year

Fastest Things on Wings by Terry Masear

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In spite of being a fervent animal lover, I rarely read animal-centric memoirs, and I’m especially avoidant of ones with “rescue” on the front cover. I find these books are generally either too depressing, too saccharine, or they are written by dedicated, well-meaning individuals with questionable writing talent. So when my husband brought Fastest Things on Wings home from one of his Little Free Library jaunts, I eyed it with suspicion. He read it first and assured me there were just a couple of heartbreaking […]

This is really neat to learn about!

Pufflings Fly Free!: A Rescue Tale from Iceland by Colleen Paeff and by Linda Ólafsdóttir

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Recently (via email) I met someone who actually goes out and helps wood frogs and salamanders at night cross the road. I had heard about this, but never knew someone who actually did it. This person recommended their book Is It Time, Yet? (by Lynn Levine and Dirk Steinhoefel). I will be finding a copy of it soon. But in the meantime, I found Pufflings Fly Free!: A Rescue Tale from Iceland by Colleen Paeff and illustrated by  Linda Ólafsdóttir. This book is basically the […]

Don’t read and eat

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre and Steve Jenkins

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Do not read Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre and illustrator Steve Jenkins while eating lunch. Even if it is a nice, tame dish of shepherd’s pie (just hamburger, corn and lots of mashed potatoes). While there is nothing grotesque about the images of Jenkins, it was shall we say the idea of their dining choices that made me feel less than hungry. But that’s not to say I was not enjoying the book. Once I separated the two acts, I found things very lovely. […]

The man, the myth, the nonsense

The Boy Who Became a Parrot: A Foolish Biography of Edward Lear Who Invented Nonsense by Wolverton Hill and Laura Carlin

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I kept seeing the title The Boy Who Became a Parrot: A Foolish Biography of Edward Lear Who Invented Nonsense by Wolverton Hill and illustrator Laura Carlin on multiple promotions, lists and emails. I was starting to think I did not want to read it as I have a thing about not reading something that is too popular. This is because I figure, a popular book will sell, be given love. The not so popular book needs someone to find it, to give it the […]

So good he’s bad… or so bad he’s good…. Read and decide for yourself

Bad Badger: A Love Story by Maryrose Wood

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Similar to the Skunk and Badger series by Amy Timberlake, Bad Badger: A Love Story is a classic feeling tale that mixes friendship, coming of age (though well into their adulthood) and “shoulds” (you “should have this” to be a “good badger”, you “should like this” to be friends) together to make a softly written, strong modern story. Maryrose Wood’s novel is sweet, calm and has only a small mystery towards the end of things. There is not a lot of traditional action (though Badger […]

Haiku for is for the birds

Whoo-Ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story by Maria Gianferrari and Jonathan D. Voss

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The picture book Whoo-Ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story by Maria Gianferrari and illustrator Jonathan D. Voss is realistic (it talks about how the owl eats, is a bird of prey) but is also age appropriate. Which I would say ranges from a strong age of 5 and up. It can be for older students/children and of course, adults, though the picture book format might turn off the older readers. The way the story is written is in multiple haikus strung together to make […]



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