Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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The Reason for the Season

Silent Night by Lara Hawthorne

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I do not know how old I was before I realized that the song Silent Night had more than the one or two verses I knew. Lara Hawthorne’s book incorporates all of the verses with delightfully, (I assume) historical accurate illustrations that are simple, but give the reader everything needed. Their picture book, Silent Night (due October 2024), will be the perfect gift for the holidays and even year around. This book is going to be one of my religious holiday recommendations for everyone. However, […]

Plant a seed watch it grow

The Pumpkin Seed's Secret: A Life Cycle Poem by Hannah Barnaby

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The autumn season is upon those of us in those regions. We get to have cool nights, crisp days, wind, rain, sun and sometimes within a 15 minute time frame! And there are changing colors of the leaves, crazy squirrels and the thought of pumpkins. And in this review we learn about the pumpkin in a way that allows us not to be scientifically bombarded with just the facts. When you read a book and the title (The Pumpkin Seed’s Secret: A Life Cycle Poem) […]

I like picture books

The Duck With No Luck by Gemma Merino

Stray Dog for Christmas: How Suzy Was Adopted by Jack Jokinen

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How many times will I tell you I really like picture books? Oh at least once more, or I should say at least this review. Not only are they quick for the adult reader, but they allow you to spend time with your favorite little reader, or make a reader with the right book, or find your classroom having a quiet time. And these two books fit the ticket.  Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the story, The Duck With No Luck by Gemma […]

The very spirited spirit of the Dark Castle

Wolfgang in the Meadow by Lenny Wen

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All the wonderful goodness of this story is how the theme of being yourself has been illustrated in a manner that takes the story in a fresh new direction.. The story is cute, but we’ve seen it before. Wolfgang is a ghost who loves spooky things, and has worked very hard to become scary like his idol. But he also likes flowers, stargazing and being with his meadow friends hugging all the trees (even the trees with eyes). So Wolfgang in the Meadow is happy. […]

Once upon a time there were two emails

The Magic Box: A Book of Opposites by Charles Ghigna

What Love Looks Like by Laura Obuobi

Danté Plays His Blues by Allen R. Wells

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Once upon a time there were two emails in my work email that said, “Please give our books a chance!” So I did. And out of the almost 10 titles I read via online reader copies, I found three I enjoyed and wanted to review.  The Magic Box: A Book of Opposites by Charles Ghigna and illustrated by Jacqueline East had potential. However, due to the minimal text, it missed the OMG BBE (Best Book Ever) mark by a smidgen. There were not as many […]

Cannonball 2024

Kobe Eats Pizza! And Helps Make It, Too  by Ashley Wian

The Birds of Bethlehem  by Tomie dePaola

Black Girls A celebration of you! by Dominique Furukawa

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I kinda sort of made my first Cannonball in January 2024. Except it didn’t happen because though I had the last three books read, I did not have them written up. I could have done it before the last day of January, but I didn’t review everything I had read, as this year was for fun reading and reviews were second. Or I guess I could say I was waiting for three special ones.  So we’ll go with that and those books were only found on […]



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