Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Grandparents are pretty cool

Granny and Bean by Karen Hesse

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When a grand mother and grandchild take a day to themselves, even the windy sea cannot stop them from enjoying themselves. Through the gray, cloudy skies, the wonders of the beach and ocean and the creatures around them come to life in Granny and Bean by Karen Hesse. The message is “stop and smell the roses” or in this case, pet the dogs that walk by, listen to the birds, and stop for teatime. And all this comes to life with the fun illustrations of […]

Grandparents do the oddest things

Granddad’s Pink Trousers by Lucie Hasova Truhelkova

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Granddad’s Pink Trousers is not for everyone. Lucie Hasova Truhelkova made a story that, when you learn the “punch line” you feel bad about judging the grandfather during the rest of the book, but at the same time, I felt the grandfather was judging and the rest of us were really douches for not being like him. I mean, the story is about the man who is strange by most people’s standards. He is upset when his wife tosses out a yogurt that is a […]

Grandmothers are special

Something about Grandma by Tania de Regil

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Julia goes to stay with her grandmother for the first time without her parents. And there is Something about Grandma and something about her house, the area she lives, the town and more. The things Julia does with her grandmother are different. They have sugar bread that is brought to them in a basket, that the lady delivery it places on her head.  There are different smells, colors and hot chocolate can cure homesickness. Her grandmother knows when Julia has picked limes from the garden, […]

Science & Nature & Grief & Love

With a Butterfly’s Wings by Pilar Lopez Avila

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This is a sweet, but also somber, story of a grandmother and granddaughter and how they interact while observing the world around them.  It is a picture book of how a grandmother teaches a grandchild how to view the world, explore the world, and to appreciate nature and the animals and plants that reside in it. This is a poem and love letter. On the pages of With a Butterfly’s Wings we see how secrets, appreciation and love are passed along and how even when […]

Shiver me timbers and pull up a cutlass

When I Was a Pirate by Tom Silson

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You can take When I Was a Pirate with you can take this book with a shot of rum and coke and say it is a true whale of a tail. Or you can believe that the grandfather has had some far out times in his life.  I mean, does the grandfather in the story tell the truth? Was he a grand old pirate in his youth? (Tattoos seem to confirm this.) Or is he just diving deep into a bit of exaggeration?  I would […]

Don’t even need to have pants to read this

Amah Faraway by Margaret Chiu Greanias

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Are you close to your grandparents? Physically or spiritually? I was physically close to both sets of grandparents (one lived in the upper part of the house, the other about 20-30 minutes’ drive).  Therefore, when kids would say, “I’m going to New Jersey for Christmas.” I was, “Huh? You mean you don’t put on a pair of pants and slippers and go upstairs?” After all, it was a big deal if we went to the other grandparent’s house (the drive) I mean we had to […]



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