Environmental Conservation & Protection

Grecia the toucan Can!

Building a Beak: How a Toucan's Rescue Inspired the World by Becca McMurdie

February 13, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

We can have artificial intelligence, limbs, and more for humans and we can even have a 3-D printed beak for a toucan. Don’t believe me? Then read all about it in Building a Beak: How a Toucan’s Rescue Inspired the World by Becca McMurdie and illustrated by Diana Hernández due in June 2025. (I had the opportunity to read it via an online reader copy). Not to spoil things, but I will say that how a toucan got a life saving “nose job” is probably […]

My Name Is Brave

My Name Is Brave: LGBTQIA+ by William Anthony

My Name Is Brave: The Environment by William Anthony

December 18, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

My Name Is Brave: LGBTQIA+ by William Anthony (due January 2025) is a nice book and a good introduction on LGBT+ issues, but it has been done before. You could find this information in almost any book on the subject. However, the addition of showing how the reader can partake in helping this or another cause they need to be brave for, is good. The mixture of photographs and drawing bring to life a handful of advocates. In a few pages each we see a transgender […]

The Bingo category is in the title

Why We Celebrate Earth Day: Everything to Know about Your Favorite Holiday by Kelly Anne Mclellan

July 12, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

cbr16bingo Earth Day Why We Celebrate Earth Day: Everything to Know about Your Favorite Holiday by Kelly Anne Mclellan has a lot of goodies included. It is good for the classroom and could be adapted for the individual. However, there was not a lot of new stuff to learn. You have pretty much seen the information before. With that said, there are a few activities you can do, and learning how to say Earth Day in other languages is fun and is new/fresh.. The main […]

If it wasn’t for a gardening club, taxidermists, and friends, Joshua Tree National Park wouldn’t be

Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park by Lori Alexander

March 15, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Don’t get stuck by the lady known as the Cactus Queen! In Lori Alexander and Jenn Ely’s book Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park we learn of a woman who loved the desert, its nature and who found a way to make it available for everyone by saving it. I read this via an online reader copy, so I am assuming it will be a picture book size, but I really think everyone should read regardless of age or if the picture […]

My last CBR16SweetChallenge (Round 1?)

From My Head to My Toes by Aly Raisman

Lights Out: A Movement to Help Migrating Birds by Jessica Stremer

Ollie, the Acorn, and the Mighty Idea by Andrew Hacket

January 31, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

CBR16SweetChallenge #Binge More picture books that I read … and in fact I have more to come, but this is already 760 words so giving you a break! Wrap up time! Picture books are a favorite of mine. You can get almost any subject out there and it’s presented in a neat (usually) package. Three books, three reviews and one theme: I read these. We know the story about body autonomy and enthusiastic consent, but From My Head to My Toes goes beyond that. Aly […]

2024 is going to be a busy year

Our Nipa Hut: A Story in the Philippines by Rachell Abalos

I Am Both : A Vietnamese Refugee Story by Kerisa Greene

Two Homes, One Heart by Jessica Young

All About Color by Elizabeth Rusch

Of Words and Water: The Story of Wilma Dykeman—Writer, Historian, Environmentalist by Shannon Hitchcock

December 14, 2023 by BlackRaven 2 Comments

It is a picture book reviewing round up time! My theme is that of cultures. Of course we know the concept of “country and culture” but sometimes a culture can be something you do not immediately think of. Yelena and Papa take care of their nipa hut and it takes care of them in Rachell Abalos’s picture book, Our Nipa Hut: A Story in the Philippines. Due in February 2024, I was lucky enough to have my book dealer send me a finished copy, as this is a book that needs […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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