Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Do you let your children read Stephen King?

Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King and Maurice Sendak

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You might have heard that Stephen King took Maurice Sendak’s illustrations and sent them out into the world as a picture book called  Hansel and Gretel. Here is the story of how I finally read it:  One Saturday I needed a change of scenery and took a few hours to browse my local library. I sat at a table (in a too tall chair), read half of an adult graphic novel (while charging my phone, and after breaking a fingernail trying to get said book), […]

You won’t have to write a book report on these

Who Is R. L. Stine by M.D. Payne

Who Was Maurice Sendak by Janet B. Pascal

Who Was Ernest Hemingway by Jim Gigliotti

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I know some are familiar with the Who Are/Who Was series? And, I have written abut them before, so saying they are books about a subject (person for the Who Are/Was, place or thing for the What Is/What Was), and they have realistic, black and white illustrations that are not necessarily “fantastic” but get the point across and there is a double timeline at the end (for the subject, in this case  three authors, and the world timeline) is redundant. But needed as an intro […]

Now I see why it was at Goodwill…

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

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The first of three finds in the literal bin full of books at the Goodwill we went to yesterday looking for teacups for my fiancee’s bridal shower. Having always loved Where the Wild Things Are, both the book and the movie, I picked this up based almost entirely upon the Sendak name. That and the illustrations, which were apparently influenced by the Little Nemo comics, per Sendak himself. Had I flipped through the book more while I was still at the Goodwill, I would’ve seen why […]

Slimy but oddly satisfying….

Hungry Jim by Laurel Snyder

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While reading Hungry Jim by Laurel Snyder, I was picking up on a vibe I could not really figure out. In the back of my head, I was thinking, “that’s um…. what is this style like?” It clicked after reading the authors afterwards. This book is a takeoff of Maurice Sendak’s work. And it does a good job of bringing that out but keeping Snyder’s voice. But since I am not a huge Sendak fan, I was not picking that up at first, but once […]

Why are the adults the only characters wearing clothes?

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I knew I had read not only Father Bear Comes Home by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, but the series of “Little Bear” books as a kid (and had them read to me). I knew there was a cartoon that I would (as an adult) sometimes catch (research for babysitting/future nieces and nephews) but when starting it last night, I realized how much I had forgotten about it. One thing I did not forget though, is why are the adults the only […]

I told you once, I told you twice, all seasons of the year are nice for eating chicken soup with rice!

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Maurice Sendak is perhaps most famous for Where the Wild Things Are but he wrote many other books as well.  Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months is a book from my childhood.  I don’t have any specific memories of it being read to me but I remember it being about while growing up.  When my first daughter was born my Mom passed our tiny, battered, dog chewed copy on to me.  As soon as I opened the cover, the sing song nature of the book and […]



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