Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Ching Ming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day

Clear and Bright: A Ching Ming Festival Story by Teresa Robeson and William Low

April 11, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Clear and Bright: A Ching Ming Festival Story by Teresa Robeson and illustrated by William Low is currently available, but I read via an online reader copy. This book is a nice book on diversity. It is a fun read, not a WOOW BEST BOOK EVER (or WBBE) but it has a lot of great points. We learn about the Ching Ming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day. We see how a family passes down their traditions to the next generation. As the publisher’s description says, our […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Health, History Tagged With: Ancestor worship, Asian American & Pacific Islander, Chinese American families, community, Emigration, family, Holidays & Celebrations, Immigration & Refugees, Teresa Robeson, Teresa Robeson and William Low, traditions, William Low

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:187 · Genres: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Health, History · Tags: Ancestor worship, Asian American & Pacific Islander, Chinese American families, community, Emigration, family, Holidays & Celebrations, Immigration & Refugees, Teresa Robeson, Teresa Robeson and William Low, traditions, William Low ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“nisãohkisinãan (We are strong)”

The Heartbeat Drum: The Story of Carol Powder, Cree Drummer and Activist (A Picture Book) by Deidre Havrelock

August 2, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The highlights of Carol Powder’s life were fun to read about, however, the artwork was a bit “cartoonish” for my personal tastes. I do like the colors and the details are well done; giving you the story and complimenting the text, however, they just didn’t “do it” for me personally. I can see how they would be the favorite part of everything for other readers. Despite any issues I have, I recommend The Heartbeat Drum: The Story of Carol Powder, Cree Drummer and Activist (A […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion Tagged With: Aphelandra, Carol Powder, Chubby Cree (Musical group), Cree Indians, Deidre Havrelock, music, Sandy Lake (First Nation), traditions, Women drummers

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:374 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion · Tags: Aphelandra, Carol Powder, Chubby Cree (Musical group), Cree Indians, Deidre Havrelock, music, Sandy Lake (First Nation), traditions, Women drummers ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

The Boy on the moon

Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo

April 1, 2024 by BlackRaven 1 Comment

I am starting my review of Lunar Boy with: I have questions. None are about the story itself, which is, a child from the Moon is adopted by a woman from New Earth. They live on a space station until the mother, in the process of helping her New Earth friend deal with the death of his wife, falls in love, marries, and moves to New Earth. Then, Indu (the child) must deal with not just the stress of a move to a new home, […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: adolescence, Cin Wibowo, coming-of-age, family, friendship, gender, glbtq, Jes and Cin Wibowo, Jes Wibowo, magic, neo-Indonesian, Social Themes, traditions

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:125 · Genres: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: adolescence, Cin Wibowo, coming-of-age, family, friendship, gender, glbtq, Jes and Cin Wibowo, Jes Wibowo, magic, neo-Indonesian, Social Themes, traditions ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Gift a read

Joy to the World: A Christmas Song by Sara Gianassi

Silent Night: A Christmas Song by Sara Gianassi

The Last Slice: A Three Kings Day Treat by Melissa Seron Richardson

December 6, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

If you like giving books for the holidays, these two board books illustrated by Sara Gianassi are adorable! They capture the more traditional feelings and ideals of the season, but also are just nice books. Perfect for stocking stuffers, these are practically must haves for everyone. They do include the full text (or at least a few verses) of each song (therefore a few lines might not be as familiar to some people) and have the sweetest images for illustrations. Okay, maybe too sweet for […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion Tagged With: family, Holiday, Melissa Seron Richardson, Monica Arnaldo, music, Sara Gianassi, Social Themes, traditions

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:855 · Genres: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion · Tags: family, Holiday, Melissa Seron Richardson, Monica Arnaldo, music, Sara Gianassi, Social Themes, traditions ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Generations

My Baba's Garden by Jordan Scott

Babo: A Tale of Armenian Rug-Washing Day by Astrid Kamalyan

Dadaji’s Paintbrush by Rashmi Sirdeshpande

November 1, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

What do you do when you have a picture book online reader copy marathon? You read them, then decide which ones to write up. And these stories about different generations coming together are just a small sample of what was on my reading plate. Both of my grandmothers were odd. After all, they married my grandfathers. And you don’t know odd until you have met the man the neighborhood called “the crazy old man with the ski pole” or the one who told the president […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, History, Poetry Tagged With: Anait Semirdzhyan, art, Astrid Kamalyan, family, grandfathers, grandmothers, grandparent, Jordan Scott, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Ruchi Mhasane, Sydney Smith, traditions

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:788 · Genres: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, History, Poetry · Tags: Anait Semirdzhyan, art, Astrid Kamalyan, family, grandfathers, grandmothers, grandparent, Jordan Scott, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Ruchi Mhasane, Sydney Smith, traditions ·
Rating:
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Don’t assume you know by the cover

The Ramadan Drummer by Sahtinay Abaza

Arthi’s Bomma by Mamta Nainy

August 4, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I have read several books on Ramadan and on India (not together, but the theme of the review is different takes on familiar areas). They were starting to blend together (I was talking about one book and realized that I was combining two different ones). Therefore, when I saw The Ramadan Drummer I was both interested and assumed it would be “just another Ramadan story.” Which, it was not. Sahtinay Abaza’s story starts out similarly to other Ramadan stories, in which the young boy of […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion Tagged With: Dinara Mirtalipova, family, India, Mamta Nainy, Ramadan, Sahtinay Abaza, Shruti Prabhu, Toys & Dolls, traditions

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:579 · Genres: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Religion · Tags: Dinara Mirtalipova, family, India, Mamta Nainy, Ramadan, Sahtinay Abaza, Shruti Prabhu, Toys & Dolls, traditions ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Classic on “It is completely unimportant. That is why it is so interesting.”This is one of my faves.
  • FyreHaar on “Had me in the first half, I’m not going to lie..”These sound lovely. Just something to escape into for a while. Ans as another ace-spec - yeah, sometimes I shake...
  • Andy Leheny on Part Fantasy, Part Messianic Fever DreamWhat's weird in the book is the reader finds out early the dead dad is one of the players. The...
  • faintingviolet on I kept imagining Father Brown’s bicycle just around the corner.I also marked it as to-read on January 6 so I'm thinking more than a coincidence!
  • narfna on I kept imagining Father Brown’s bicycle just around the corner.I marked it as to-read on Jan 6. Coincidence? Maybe!
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