Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Old idea, new presentation

Papilio by Ben Clanton, Andy Chou Musser and Corey R. Tabor

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The concept of coming of age is told through the eyes of a butterfly in Papilio. Ben Clanton, Andy Chou Musser, and Corey R. Tabor created a unique read (the coming of age concept) but still is a book about a butterfly and its life cycle. We follow Papilio from the changes they have from egg to a falling (though feels like flying) caterpillar, to an actual flying butterfly. Told in three “chapters” these sections show us the stages of going from caterpillar, to caterpillar […]

Flamingos are now in the top ten of my favorite birds

Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman

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I do not think I have seen a book about flamingos that I have ever wanted to read before I found this one. But the cover of Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman, with the words Funky and Not So Serious on it, really grabbed my attention. Especially funky. How can flamingos be funky??? They stand there on one leg. They are on the pink and white color spectrum. They eat food that makes them that color. They have […]

La Brea Tar Pits: The Undercover investigation

Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits by Joyce Uglow

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While the text was a bit academic, it also has some poetic tone to the writing of Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits. Joyce Uglow presents the theme of death in the tar pit in a tasteful manner. Overall things are well done, educational and adapted for multiple ages. Perhaps it is not the “best book ever,”  but it is a solid science book. Uglow and Valerya Milovanova (the illustrator) created a younger looking (at first glance) story about how things over the […]

Everything is connected

The Secret Network of Nature: The Delicate Balance of All Living Things by Peter Wohlleben

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CBR16 BINGO: And Also, a repeat of the Earth Day square BINGO: Détente, And Also, Scandal, Tech, Rings Wolves in Yellowstone National Park support the beaver population. Salmon help trees grow. Ravens and wolves form an alliance against bears. Peter Wohlleben’s The Secret Network of Nature is filled with fascinating stories about the interconnectivity and delicate balance of our environment. Wohlleben is a German forestry expert who has written several bestsellers, including The Hidden Life of Trees and The Inner Life of Animals. Given my […]

The Strange, Fragile, Beautiful World

Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures by Katherine Rundell

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It’s estimated that there are around 7.8 millions animal species on the planet, many of which we know little about. Unfortunately, some may vanish before we can learn much more – which is a pity, because the variety of life on this planet is far more wondrous and strange than anything our imaginations could conjure up. This is a quiet and contemplative peek at the natural world in easy bite-sized installments. Each essay discusses an animal species which threatened in one way or another, covering […]

Science begins at home (includes link to a fun video if you’re having a bad day)

One Wild Bird at a Time by Bernd Heinrich

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CBR16 BINGO: Earth Day, because it’s about observing birds and nature BINGO (diagonal): Bananas, Cult, Dreams, Earth Day, Rings Bernd Heinrich is a biologist/naturalist/professor who has written numerous books about birds and bird behavior. I’ve read some of his other books and found them to be a little dense, but he is clearly an expert in the field and an avid bird lover. In One Wild Bird at a Time, he encourage his readers to conduct their own experiments by closely observing the world around […]



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