Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Told in English and Chinese

Grandpa’s Magic Mask: A Story of Growth and Bravery in English and Chinese by Siping Wu

A House Just for Mommy: A Bedtime Story Told in English and Chinese by Dayong Gan

The Boy, the Deer, and the King: A Legend Retold in English and Chinese by Xiaochun Tang

Little Malan’s Debut: A Story of Courage Told in English and Chinese by Lumin Qian

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I do not speak a second language. As an adult, I regret not working harder on that, but I take solace in the fact that there are bilingual books out there and I can read the English part and admire the second language. Usually this is French or Spanish, but I have noticed that Chinese is taking its place. I’m not sure if the Chinese in these four books is Mandarin or Cantonese, so please let me know if you know! All will be available […]

The year 2025 is going to be busy with fun new books

The Three-Year Tumble: Based on a Korean Folktale by Dayeon Auh

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The Three-Year Tumble: Based on a Korean Folktale by Dayeon Auh and translated by Tim Mohr was read via an online reader copy as it is not due until mid-late March 2025. And I was unaware of this until after I read it and really liked it. But it is worth the wait. Auh’s story is a clever story about how we see things and how our attitude can shape that. The story follows a grandfather who must go over a mountain to get to […]

Ghostly friendship

The Ghost of Blanes Museum by Lau Moraiti

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The Ghost of Blanes Museum by Lau Moraiti (both text and illustrations) is due late May/early June 2024. I had a “do I/don’t I read it” relationship with this book.  I was not sure I really wanted to read it, but the cover kept pulling me in. I finally had one too many cosmic hints that said, “Read it already!” And I finally read it via an online reader copy. In the end I am not sure why I waited so long! Yet, I think […]

May I Take Your Coat?

The North Wind and the Sun by Philip C. Stead

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Though the story within the pages of The North Wind and the Sun is one of “you get more bees with honey than vinegar” (I don’t like flies) is not new, but the way the author presents things takes on a fresh feeling. The art is child-like but far from childish. Perhaps more for an adult than the usual picture book crowd, this is a delightful book for anyone’s library. Philip C. Stead has adapted (or retold) a folk tale that I am unfamiliar with. Perhaps […]

Talking wordy to you

Maddie and Mabel by Kari Allen

The Magical Clay Doll : A Legend Retold in English and Chinese by Ning Sun

Maribel’s Year by Michelle Sterling

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Picture book round-up with a family and friendship theme attached to them! All titles are currently available but were read via an online reader copy. I like how the publisher copy of Maddie and Mabel by Kari Allen describes our young sisters, “two spunky sisters who navigate their relationship with humor and heart.” There is heart, some humor and a lot of spunk, but not everything is for everyone. The dynamic between the siblings is old fashioned, but is not dated. If you have a […]

Bronze Age Crete in modern tone

Minoan Wings V02 Swallow's Dance by Wendy Orr

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A companion to Minoan Wings V01 Dragonfly Song we follow a young woman on the eve of her first “bleeding” (mensuration) and what that means to her within her community in Minoan Wings V02 Swallow’s Dance. Several natural disasters mean that our narrators’ carefully ordered and privileged life is shattered. Eventually, these disasters leave her, her mother and their old nursemaid-slave homeless and alone in a strange new land. Realizing how her once higher status is now her greatest enemy, she must learn to put […]



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