Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The man, the woman and their influences on books

Outside In and Inside Out: A Story About Arnold Lobel by Emmy Kastner

Fanny's Big Idea: How Jewish Book Week Was Born by Richard Michelson and Alyssa Russell

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For the longest time, biographies were the only non-fiction reading I did. I would  explore that genre more as I got older, but I always hold a spot in my heart and read piles for biographies. And picture book biographies have become a staple to read. Two that grabbed my attention and made me need to talk about them were Outside In and Inside Out: A Story About Arnold Lobel by Emmy Kastner and Fanny’s Big Idea: How Jewish Book Week Was Born by Richard […]

Finding wings

Bird by Kristin Rosetta Elliott Hood

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Through the site that I get most of my online readers, I found several older titles. And by older I mean as far back as even 2002. The publisher was reissuing a few things I was assuming, but that is always fun as you never know what you will find. One of those books, that I almost did not read, was Bird by Kristin Rosetta Elliott Hood and illustrated by Shadra Strickland. This was one from 2017. This book was at first something that seemed […]

Jerry Pinkney, Caldecott Medal winner and illustrator

Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life by Jerry Pinkney

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While I knew who Jerry Pinkney was, I was not familiar with his personal life. But Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life is a lovely memoir that highlights the important and beautiful parts of his life as he made his journey to becoming the artist we know today.  His memoir, starting off with a note from the editor, is something that is more than an autobiography. It is a look at parts of the life of a man who would win awards and show the […]

More than a broken heart

The Faint f Heart by Kerilynn Wilson

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Due to a few bumps in the story arc of The Faint f Heart, but particularly due to the artwork, this book is a 4.5 (rounded up to 5). This is a love story to emotions and feelings. It has realistic, science-fiction and fantasy vibes but is all too likely to happen scenario, or at least is within reason. When you play with the heart, emotions happen, and Kerilynn Wilson explores what happens when people find a way to stop feeling those emotions.   June […]

She and Green

The Life of a Crayon: A Colorful Story of Never-Ending Beginnings by Christopher Willard and Tara Wosiski

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When a young girl gets a brand-new box of crayons, the adventures begin. But one crayon, Green, is the one that we follow. This is her favorite color, and we see how the many green things come into play (and drawing) as she grows. Not only does she have fun and is artistic but learns lessons too. Such as we might get our paintings praised if on the paper, but on the wall not so much. And to have patience as during the autumn months […]

He loved art, but not puzzles

The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin

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I had not realized how recently published The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin was. I figured this was a 1990s books or even earlier due the 1980s style of cover. But then again, since the author was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s it is probably appropriate to have that feeling to the cover. We learn about the author/illustrator in a way only they can tell us. The troubles, the love, the misunderstandings, the political and […]



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