Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Another Cinderella Story

Sootypaws: A Cinderella Story by Maggie Rudy

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I have organized the picture book reader copies several times recently (for various reasons). And I kept going around this book. I did not want to even touch it. Not that I have an issue with mice or even rats, but dead mice/rats are another thing and these cover critters looked dead. Never mind the fact that it seemed like it could be a fun alternative Cinderella story. I like alternative fairy tales and Cinderella stories in particular. I used to have a collection of […]

What does that command mean?

I Love You, Fred! by Mick Inkpen

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Fred can do all the commands: sit, stay, don’t run away. At least most of the time. But he cannot understand the command “Fred”. What is Fred? If he knew what Fred was, he would be the best at it! (Or try his best.) This is the dilemma of Fred in, I Love You Fred. The person that is around Fred is always saying that word Fred. It is most frustrating. However, later Fred learns what Fred means and how-to Fred: by just being himself. […]

Be You

The Box Turtle by Vanessa Roeder

Glad, Glad Bear! by Kimberly Gee

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Books about being yourself have never been more prevalent than of late. And The Box Turtle by Vanessa Roeder and Glad, Glad Bear! by Kimberly Gee are two of the latest. When they say “box turtle” they mean a box turtle. A sweet story about being true to yourself, The Box Turtle is for the slightly older (ages 4 to 8) crowd. Terrance, a turtle, is born without an important piece: a shell. But the parents know what to do by finding an actual box […]

Fred’s Big Feelings and how they shaped us

Fred's Big Feelings: The Life and Legacy of Mister Rogers by Laura Renauld

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Fred’s Big Feelings: The Life and Legacy of Mister Rogers is a love story to Fred Rogers.vand Bridgett Barrager start this book with the iconic living room many of us grew up “in”. Then they head back to 1930’s Philadelphia where we see how Fred Rogers became Mr. Rogers: a boy teased for his weight and had asthma, so he was unable to play like other kids. And finally, we end back in that famous living room. The life, times and thought of Rogers comes […]

And another thing, I couldn’t even finish this book

And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer

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Not long ago on Facebook, someone posed the question, “When do you give up on a book and stop reading?” I thought about this and determined that, if I look at how many pages I have left in a book and I’m actively dreading it, that’s when I quit. I had 188 pages left in And Another Thing when I just couldn’t stand it anymore. God knows I don’t quit a book likely. I’ve slogged through my share of banality and dreck just to give […]

Theme is: Books I am not a fan of

Bonnie & Ben Rhyme Again by Mem Fox

Cuddle Monkey by Blake Lilane Hellman

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I dislike giving books a One rating. I know the author and illustrator have put a lot of time and effort into the book. However, sometimes you just cannot find the spark that makes that book your book. The below books are two that just did not “spark” for me. Adults will most likely get sick of the repetition quickly enough of Bonnie & Ben Rhyme Again. Even though this is Mem Fox, I do not see the “element” I have come to associate with […]



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