Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Princesses, pirates and sisters

Story Spinners: A Sisterly Tale of Danger, a Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates by Cassandra Federman

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I started a review once that said that I like sibling books and sister books in particular. Story Spinners: A Sisterly Tale of Danger, a Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates written and illustrated by Cassandra Federman is one of those books. Currently available, this is a cute story about modern day sisters, with one having some old school ideas that get messy when the sisters unite to tell their “other sister” a bedtime story. Of course, there is more than that. The oldest […]

Two reviews for you

Mary Had a Little Jam by Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Pencil  by Hye-Eun Kim

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My recent picture book reading day included a lot of books. So many in fact that I had to break them into two different reviews. Also read and now included in this review were Mary Had a Little Jam by Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton and Pencil  by Hye-Eun Kim. Well, Hye-Eun Kim’s book was more looked at than read as it is a wordless picture book. And still Pencil is something that I can write several words about. The fun part of this book […]

Charles Addams, Shel Silverstein, AA Milne and Edward Gorey had a baby this would be its cousin.

The Boy Who Lived in a Shell: Snippets for Wandering Minds by John Himmelman

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If Charles Addams, Shel Silverstein, AA Milne and Edward Gorey had a baby this would be its cousin. The Boy Who Lived in a Shell: Snippets for Wandering Minds by John Himmelman is not necessarily spooky or kooky like Addams or Gorey; or rhyming like Silverstein and does not have the sweetness or innocence of Milne, but a mixture that is all its own. Due mid-March 2025, I read via an online reader’s copy. The stories the boy talks about, or actually writes, are on […]

From hustle and bustle to buzz and whirr

Nightsong by Sally Soweol Han

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Nightsong by Sally Soweol Han is a story about a young boy who is tired of visiting the adults with his adult (assuming mother). But soon it is time to go home and the adult and child head for the bus, hop on and are leaving the city behind. Until the wheels on the bus don’t go round and round, and one needs to be fixed. A long day got longer, but our young boy decided to listen to the sounds around him and explore […]

This review happened because around 20 years ago a grandmother gave her grandson a banana to eat….

Benny the Bananasaurus Rex by Sarabeth Holden and Emma Pedersen

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I am not sure when I found the magnet of a kid (it was at least a year or two ago), in a dinosaur suit and eating bananas, on my desk. The coworker who left it said it reminded her of me. I wasn’t insulted, I knew she meant it as a compliment, but she did clarify it was a good thing. I also felt it was perfect for me as my middle nephew used to (maybe still does, he hasn’t said) love bananas (and […]

Dear Bookstore I love you

Dear Bookstore by Emily Arrow

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While the ending was a smidgen pushy in Dear Bookstore, the overall feeling is well done. The illustrations by Geneviève Godbout set the tone that Emily Arrow has presented, well and are a great push for getting readers into brick and motor independent stores. Due mid March 2025, I read Arrow’s book via an online reader copy. The poetic nature of things starts off like any other book you have read about a bookstore. And if you are not paying attention, you will miss the […]



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