Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A girl and her dog learn what loves got to do with it

What's Love All About, Minimoni? by Rocio Bonilla

by Leave a Comment

While What’s Love All About, Minimoni?, written and illustrated by Rocio Bonilla, is a bit idealistic, it is also cute. When a young girl asks about what love is, she has a mature journey to finding it. What she learns is what many adults do not even realize: Love is a little bit of everything that is good. And she can imagine sharing that with the world. As I said, it is a bit idealistic, but it does have some silly moments, too. This means […]

She was for the birds

Birdlore: The Iridescent Life of Florence Merriam Bailey by Jess Keating

by Leave a Comment

Online reader copies have pretty much become the way that I read future publications as fewer physical reader copies are finding themselves in my hands. And one that I am glad I read, regardless of the format, is Birdlore: The Iridescent Life of Florence Merriam Bailey by Jess Keating and some far out illustrations by  Devon Holzwarth. Due in mid-March 2025, I am excited to tell you about it so you can go to your local independent bookstore and pre order copies. Yes, copies. You […]

Orange is the new pumpkin

Little Orange Pumpkin by Erin Guendelsberger

by Leave a Comment

I was looking at my online reader copy lists and found Little Orange Pumpkin by Erin Guendelsberger and illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin. It came out  in August 2024, making it ripe for a Halloween story. Which it is, as Little Orange Pumpkin is all excited about going out and trick or treating. Of course, she thinks she is ready to go out on her own, but her parents have other plans. In the end, we have a magical journey when Little Orange Pumpkin is sent […]

Friends and differences

Don't Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah by Karen Rostoker-Gruber

by Leave a Comment

Don’t Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah by Karen Rostoker-Gruber and illustrated by Carles Arbat was exactly what I expected it to be. With that said, it is cute, funny and shows the values of the season. I wish I had found it before today (the first day of Hanukah), but it will work for the other days of the celebration, and for next year as well. We have a young child decorating for the holiday. They see a bear outside and though the narrator […]

This review happened because around 20 years ago a grandmother gave her grandson a banana to eat….

Benny the Bananasaurus Rex by Sarabeth Holden and Emma Pedersen

by Leave a Comment

I am not sure when I found the magnet of a kid (it was at least a year or two ago), in a dinosaur suit and eating bananas, on my desk. The coworker who left it said it reminded her of me. I wasn’t insulted, I knew she meant it as a compliment, but she did clarify it was a good thing. I also felt it was perfect for me as my middle nephew used to (maybe still does, he hasn’t said) love bananas (and […]

Surviving middle school is hard

Just Beyond #1 The Scare School by R.L. Stine, Nichole Matthews and Kelly Matthews

by Leave a Comment

R.L. Stine, Nichole Matthews and Kelly Matthews adapted Just Beyond #1 The Scare School into a graphic novel format. Or I am assuming it was a novel first, then a graphic novel. However, regardless of which came first (or didn’t come out) this is an old school RL Stine story. The theme is classic: We start with a couple of kids in “unusual clothing” (cue the “not from our world”) and how they are being chased by a robotic monster. We then see who lives […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo