Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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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

May 6, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: animals, birds, Concepts, Edward Lear, English, Laura Carlin, Nonsense verses, poets, Wolverton Hill, Wolverton Hill and Laura Carlin

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:117 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry · Tags: animals, birds, Concepts, Edward Lear, English, Laura Carlin, Nonsense verses, poets, Wolverton Hill, Wolverton Hill and Laura Carlin ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

My review became longer than the books combined!

Baby Play (Bilingual Portuguese & English) (Barefoot Bilinguals) by Skye Silver

Our World: England by Sumana Seeboruth

Barefoot Baby-Proof: Baby's First Words by Christiane Engel

Feelings & Firsts: Won’t Go! by Sumana Seeboruth

Feelings & Firsts: Not Tired! by Sumana Seeboruth

May 7, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Recently I received an envelope from Barefoot Press. (I might have cackled, “MINE! MINE! ALL MINE!” I get emotional when my book dealer comes through for me with a fix. And what a fix it was.) There were hardcovers, board books, paperbacks and one of which is an “indestructible paper not board-board books.” I wanted to read then, but decided working probably was more important. I went home, curled up on the couch and started with the board books. The first was Baby Play (Bilingual […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Health, Non-Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: activities, babies, board books, Christiane Engel, Concepts, country, Ella Hobbis, England, English, europe, family, Fotini Tikkou, language, Play, portuguese, Skye Silver, Sumana Hobbis, Sumana Seeboruth, words

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:238 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Health, Non-Fiction, Poetry · Tags: activities, babies, board books, Christiane Engel, Concepts, country, Ella Hobbis, England, English, europe, family, Fotini Tikkou, language, Play, portuguese, Skye Silver, Sumana Hobbis, Sumana Seeboruth, words ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

12 months of the year in English, French, Spanish and German

One Year: Une Année  Un Año  Ein Jahr by Ioana Stoain

November 15, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

There is a lot to love about the book One Year: Une Année  Un Año  Ein Jahr. There are adorable illustrations by Julia Leister that give things a bright, fun, and whimsical look. As the publisher’s description says, these  “retro-style illustrations” make things cozy and happy. The images tell you the month with the people’s clothing and actions, plus the weather is a great clue. I really enjoyed all of this until the whole point of the book. The four different languages. Ioana Stoain puts […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Non-Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: Concepts, English, French, German, Ioana Stoain, Julia Leister, Languages, months, seasons, spanish

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:550 · Genres: Children's Books, Non-Fiction, Poetry · Tags: Concepts, English, French, German, Ioana Stoain, Julia Leister, Languages, months, seasons, spanish ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Languages for the power

My Mother's Tongues: A Weaving of Languages by Uma Menon

July 19, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

My Mother’s Tongues: A Weaving of Languages is a clever story of a young girl and her family’s talents with languages. Well, her mother can speak two different languages. She has one for her mother and daughter, and another for the cashier. However, sometimes the two are mixed. And the young girl explores her family and how they learned to speak several languages, and what that means. The connection between the generations is sweet and the cultural connections are delightful to learn. Uma Menon introduces […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: Asia, Emigration & Immigration, English, family, grandmothers, India, Languages, Malayalam, mothers, Rahele Jomepour Bell, Social Themes, Uma Menon

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:537 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry · Tags: Asia, Emigration & Immigration, English, family, grandmothers, India, Languages, Malayalam, mothers, Rahele Jomepour Bell, Social Themes, Uma Menon ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

It’s not nice to spy on people hiding in the woods

What We Saw: A Thriller by Mary Downing Hahn

July 3, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

cbr15bingo: Nostalgia: For the days when I first read this author, a young kid with no adult problems! When I was asked who my favorite author was as a kid, usually I would say Mary Downing Hahn. I had others (Walter Dean Myers, R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, to name a few), but she was always one. Then, as an adult a gal I met via pen palling said she liked her too, so we bonded over our like of this author.  And when I […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: art, cbr15bingo, English, family, friendship, Mary Downing Hahn, murder, parents, school, siblings, teachers

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:437 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: art, cbr15bingo, English, family, friendship, Mary Downing Hahn, murder, parents, school, siblings, teachers ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“Lexicography Moves So Slowly That Scientists Classify It As a Solid”

Word by Word by Kory Stamper

February 27, 2023 by Tracy 1 Comment

This book is just chock full of interesting nuggets of information (case in point: I considered titling this post “Did you know that the word “pumpernickel” comes from German for “fart goblin”?). In some ways the book is more interesting than it seems like it has any right to be. A book about writing dictionaries? Sounds boring, but Kory Stamper writes with humor (see post title) and an informal style that makes it an interesting and entertaining read. Each chapter focuses on an element of […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: English, Kory Stamper, language

Tracy's CBR15 Review No:5 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: English, Kory Stamper, language ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment
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Recent Comments

  • Mrs. Julien
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    I enjoyed your review and the story it linked to! Thank you!
  • Fiat.Luxury
    on a pre-Covid novella that I thought was post-Covid
    Right?!
  • G.D. Giant
    on Three extremely different books about space
    I have Atmosphere on my list, so thank you for this encouraging review. Taylor Jenkins Reid is hit-or-miss for me,...
  • G.D. Giant
    on But did they try more cowbell?
    Great review! I just finished this book and while I enjoyed it more than you did (I gave it four...
  • G.D. Giant
    on a pre-Covid novella that I thought was post-Covid
    I just finished this! And had to keep checking the publication date because I couldn't believe it was written *before*...
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