Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

One seed

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

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While I did not completely love the grainy illustrations of Big Tree by Brian Selznick, I understand the reason for them and appreciate them. And there were several that were more fleshed out, but they felt few and far between. The story is a mature environmental tale with spiritual elements that is told by two seeds from a seed pod from Mama Sycamore. It does not sound like it makes sense, but it does, even if sometimes the flow of the story felt to be not as […]

Abstract reading

Kaleidoscope by Brian Selznick

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Kaleidoscope is classic Brian Selznick with the illustrations. It is busy, crowded, soft, heavy, black and white, surreal and realistic. However, the story is not what I expect from Selznick. It is abstract. Several stories are contained into three parts: Morning, Afternoon and Evening. All of these stories feel as if they should be connected, but none actually seem to be actually connected. Or are they? There are images that show up in more than one story (the boys breaking into a place and burning […]

A Couple of Babies

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These two books have nothing to do with each other. I am only reviewing together to show that there is something for everyone out there. Feminist Baby by Loryn Brantz is an attempt to help spread contemporary thoughts. The story “Baby can do anything” is not new, but by putting in the word “feminist” you put a new spin on it. The fact the baby acts like a baby (gets messy, gets naked, etc.) means you will either love or dislike this board book of […]

OMG BRIAN SELZNICK!!!!

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Is there such a thing as Brian Selznick addiction? Because OMG I totally have it. I devoured his two previous books in a mere afternoon apiece as they each came out. I’m just sad I forgot to put a hold on this when it was first released. I appreciate the way he merges simple charcoal-like sketches with a complex and layered story that helps us merge art and text. The Marvels is more of the same that I’ve come to expect. I can’t decide if […]

The Book About Basically the Same Thing as The Invention of Hugo Cabret, But This Is a Very Bad Book

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You know Brian Selznick as the person who wrote The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but this is his less famous book. It’s the same basic idea as The Invention of Hugo Cabret, except it’s a brother and a sister who are orphans, and instead a train station, they are living in their parents’ old house. They make a machine which can pull part of itself off to make an object float in the air. Pretty great idea, right?, but poor execution. When I read the book […]



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