Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Poetry + science + activism = one heck of a book

The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife by Erica Silverman

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I do not think I was halfway through The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife by Erica Silverman and illustrated by Ginnie Hsu before I knew this was probably going to be my top April read (and yes, it is only a week into the month) and probably in my top picks for the year (and yes, it’s only four months old). The story is actually poems, but don’t let that stop you from reading! No, these are not artsy-fartsy ones! These […]

One seed

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

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While I did not completely love the grainy illustrations of Big Tree by Brian Selznick, I understand the reason for them and appreciate them. And there were several that were more fleshed out, but they felt few and far between. The story is a mature environmental tale with spiritual elements that is told by two seeds from a seed pod from Mama Sycamore. It does not sound like it makes sense, but it does, even if sometimes the flow of the story felt to be not as […]

Slightly unknown and unknow critters

Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures by Susan Johnston Taylor

Not a Monster by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez

Nudi Gill: Poison Powerhouse of the Sea by Bonnie Kelso

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There was a picture book reading marathon with my saved online reader copies the other day. I chose a dozen or so to review and about as many to not review. It wasn’t completely easy to choose, however, the below titles were the easiest choices I have made since the day I learned of a health condition I had. And that was so easy, I don’t even remember doing it! If you want a fantastic book with levels that allows for multiple interests and ages […]

Science, but fun

Angela’s Glacier by Jordan Scott

Climbing the Volcano by Curtis Manley

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Science was never my thing growing up. However, maybe if I was exposed to/had more science based stories, that mixed effortlessly fact and fiction, I might have gotten into things more. The titles (both due January 2024 and read via online reader copies) Angela’s Glacier and Climbing the Volcano would be the first two I would want to read.  Jordan Scott’s Angela’s Glacier is a unique way of telling us to “stop and smell the glacier.” Or for most of us, to stop and smell […]

If Disney’s WALL-E met Noah’s Ark and narrated by all the nature hosts you know

The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker

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is known for their wordless picture books. And The Last Zookeeper is another gem in that genre.  It is always funny to me to write a review about a book with no words. There is a quote from Jane Goodall at the start, but that is it in this  due mid-March 2024 Disney’s WALL-E meets Noah’s Ark story. The theme is simple, environmentalism. However, it goes deeper. The emotional pull of what happens if we do not pay attention to our world and that environment is […]

There’s so much more to the world than we know

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong

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CBR15 BINGO: In the Wild, because it’s about animal senses (which is pretty wild!) A bug called a treehopper communicates by creating vibrations through its abdomen. A dog’s olfactory sense is so acute that it can tell twins apart by their smell. Shore birds called red knots use their bills to feel prey under the sand. These are a few of the amazing sensory tales that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ed Yong reveals in An Immense World. More than a collection of animal facts, An Immense […]



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