Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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What stars are made of

The Curious Life of Cecilia Payne: Discovering the Stuff of Stars by Laura Alary

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TITLE: The Curious Life of Cecilia Payne: Discovering the Stuff of Stars AUTHOR:  Laura Alary ILLUSTRATOR:  Yas Imamura  PUB DATE: Late January 2026 READ AS: Online reader copy RESULT:  Dang this is good! NEED MORE?: YES OKAY MORE: This is a picture book about Cecila Payne, who was a young girl who did not fit in. She stood out in many ways not just because she was taller than other girls/women, not just because she was a female, but because she really loved nature and […]

Winter, spring, summer and fall, all ya gotta do is read the poems

Poems for Every Season by Bette Westera and David Colmer

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A while back I requested several picture books from an online reader site. One of them was Poems for Every Season by Bette Westera and David Colmer (translator). I was not sure what I would get. I mean I figured poems and seasons (and of course most likely poems about seasons), but I did not have super high expectations. I figured things would be good, but not great. Plus, I just did not want to be disappointed as I had been a lot before (and since) reading […]

Impact of books and other really cool things

The Blue Jays That Grew a Forest by Lynn Street

Little Monk Writes Rain by Hsu-Kung Liu

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As you know I enjoy reading picture books. They are not just for the “kid crowd” as I have found (and highly encourage others  to do so, too) many books that give me information about something or someone I was unfamiliar with. I also find poetry, poetic prose, silliness and much more. But sometimes I am unable to write a “full review” so I must combine them to make one larger review. I do try to “theme” them, and I hope I did with the […]

Marine Life

Meadows of the Sea: The Wonders of Seagrass by Michelle Schaub

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Overall, Meadows of the Sea: The Wonders of Seagrass by Michelle Schaub is a good story about the ocean with the metaphor of showing how it is like a meadow. This idea makes something that seems unfamiliar and even alien, take on a form that we know and can understand. The poetic nature of the first part (the story) is reminiscent of the ocean flow itself. The fact that the second part (actual factual information) is added on the page allows the book to grow with […]

Birds for a BINGO Board Blackout

The Wisdom of Birds, An Illustrated History of Ornithology by Tim Birkhead

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CBR 17 BINGO: Migrant, because many bird species migrate. Quadruple Bingo and Board Blackout! Across: Migrant, Review, Black, School, Rec’d Down: Migrant, Play, “B“, Favorite, Arts Diagonal: Migrant, Purple, “N“, Border, White Four corners and the center: Migrant, Rec’d, White, Arts, “N” The title of Tim Birkhead’s The Wisdom of Birds is misleading if you fail to read the subtitle, An Illustrated History of Ornithology, which sums up the book nicely. One might wonder why the author didn’t just go with a more precise title, […]

From dump to park

Once a Wasteland: From Toxic Dump to National Park by Diane Muldrow and Amy Jindra Hodgson

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Starting off almost poetically, Once a Wasteland: From Toxic Dump to National Park moves into the facts quickly. Everything is laid out in simple, but not simplistic terms. The overall tone is good, it allows you to access a piece of history and the extras allow the book to grow with the reader. However, “points” are lost due to the fact environmental stories are not new, it was not necessarily told in a new manner and I had questions that were not answered, such as […]



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