Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Don’t Judge Books by their Covers and Don’t Miss these!

Snow Birds by Kirsten Hall

The Snow Fox by Rosemary Shojaie

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Nothing like having a few minutes to read a picture book. The thing is, with these two books I need a lot more than a few minutes! I need to sit down and take oh, 3 to 5 minutes per page. Each book has details in their illustrations that make them frame worthy. Snow Birds at first made me think, “Okay, one to three words per page. And if a complete sentence is not there, I would not be surprised.” Well, that old adage, Do […]

A good first snow is magical for sure

First Snow by Bomi Park

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Bomi Park created a poetic story about the first snow fall and how magical it is to one child. First Snow invokes The Snowman’s “sneaking out” feeling and that nothing bad could happen. It has that realistic-magical element to it. I went back and look at the illustrations more closely as there are some hidden items/critters/etc. that made me wonder if they are there or it is the child’s imagination (i.e.: did her puppy turned in the polar bear or there is a polar bear. […]

Let it snow, let it snow!

I Wish it Would Snow. by Sarah Dillard

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Sadly, I did not like the book, I Wish it Would Snow. The only thing that saved it for me was Sarah Dillard’s illustrations. They are sweet and there are some details, but they are not overwhelming. The colors are bold and bright. They do help move the story along. At first, I thought this would be a wordless-picture book, but then it started up with sparse text. And continued with the sparse text. However, the story is realistic. The fact that the child/narrator of […]

See the light and check out this book

Claudia & Moth by Jennifer Hansen Rolli

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I was all into Claudia & Moth right up until Claudia paints the moth (literally). My thought is “Wouldn’t this kill the moth?” At the very least, even non-toxic paint for humans could be toxic to a moth. It is only at the end that Claudia learns that the moth has its own beauty that she decides to paint the month in a special way.  I would have written a different ending, but this is Jennifer Hansen Rolli’s choice. However, their illustrations are quite lovely. […]

Dashing through the snow….and other activities

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Snow by Walter de la Mare is part of the Four Seasons series that he and Carolina Rabei (as illustrator) have created. Rabei’s illustrations are the main reason I enjoyed this book. While I read the hardcover edition, it also comes in a board book format and in paper as well (though that edition might not be available currently). The illustrations are clever and the right amount of color or lack thereof. It is for the Christmas holiday as we do see that jolly ol’ […]

Retro artwork and ageless story

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Small Walt and Mo the Tow is a nice story about friends, the fun and dangers of snow and helping each other out. It is also politically correct as Mo’s driver is a woman of color. However, this is not “in your face” as it is presented as very natural.  That is refreshing to have the story just “be” and not have to make a big point over “hey we’ve a woman driver over here! And oh yeah, she’s black, too.” However, Elizbeth Verdick falls […]



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