Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Barbara did whatever she set her mind to do

Because Barbara: Barbara Cooney Paints Her World by Sarah MacKenzie

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You might have read my review of Dear Duck, Please Come! by Sarah MacKenzie and Charles Santoso and learned that I was trying to read Because Barbara: Barbara Cooney Paints Her World by Sarah MacKenzie and illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen instead, but a mix up with the online link brought me to the duck book. It was a nice surprise, but I still wanted to read about Cooney and was eventually able to locate another online link to the book. Therefore,  I was able […]

It is an exploration

What Is It? by Lynda Barry

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CBR16SweetChallenge #New (new author, new style of writing/art) What Is It? is not my usual read for several reasons. But I knew the main reason was going to be that the cover was telling me this. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you can, especially when it looks like this. Lynda Barry’s work gives off a vibe of “old school gross-out.” It is as if the era of Mad Magazine and others like that threw up in realistic-abstract collages. […]

My Joanna Ho kick

One Day by Joanna Ho

On the Tip of a Wave: How Ai Weiwei's Art Is Changing the Tide? by Joanna Ho

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If you know picture books and diverse picture books, you probably know Eyes That Kiss in the Corners and Eyes That Speak to the Stars by Joanna Ho. But do you know Say My Name or Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma? Or what about One Day or  On the Tip of a Wave: How Ai Weiwei’s Art Is Changing the Tide? I have had the pleasure of reading them all (I was on a Joanna Ho kick recently, though have not […]

A Flash in the Pan

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

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CBR 14 Bingo: Font I do like that dripping red font, like it’s been chalked on. Also Lydia is a font of misery. Lydia is a vampire – has been all her life, since her mother turned her as an infant. Now she’s living on her own for the first time, and having trouble tracking down blood. Though I did not know there was a term for them, I have long been aware of the Sad, Strange, Miserable Women that populate the modern literary landscape. […]

Yes, an artist

Maybe an Artist, a Graphic Memoir by Elizabeth Montague

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Maybe an Artist, a Graphic Memoir by Elizabeth Montague is a simple, but expressive and sweet memoir about how one person became the artist they are today. It was not an easy path, filled with boys, school, friendship, social themes, and siblings, but it was one that we can all relate too. Montague added their delightful artwork to accompany the text. This story seems simple enough, but it is the one where a young 22-year-old woman became one of the first black female cartoonists at […]

One of my fave illustrators has done her first book

Never, Never Quit by Karen Hallion

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Karen Hallion is one of the best illustrators I have found in the last few years. Her art is sweet, funny and can make pop culture educational as well as entertaining. You can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. They have a handful of sites where you can buy their work. I found Never, Never Quit on her Etsy page, so it might not be the easiest find, but worth it. If you know Hallion’s work, you know that they are […]



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