Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Daddy Death

Godfather Death by Sally Nicholls, Julia Sarda

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“Godfather Death” is an interesting fairy tale to produce for children. It’s very emotionally mature with an adult character at its center. A poor fisherman seeks out the “most honest man” to be his child’s godfather. He turns down God (God is too fickle), he turns down the Devil (for obvious reasons), but when he meets Death, he realizes Death is the most honest man, for he sticks to his duty no matter how rich or poor his victim. Death gives the father a gift […]

Vampire-Off During a Cat and Mouse Chase, but it’s cozy cute

The Night-Time Cat and the Plump Grey Mouse: A Trinity College Tale by Erika McGann, Lauren O'Neil

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The Night-Time Cat and the Plump Grey Mouse: A Trinity College Tale is an illustrated kids book, but it’s actually got a good bit of interest for grown-ups of certain interests. The story itself is basically that Pangur Ban the cat escapes from the book where she lives to chase a mouse who has done the same (escaped the book for nightly wandering/adventure. She keeps running into the local ghosts, both literary and historical, and asks everyone if they’ve seen her prey (hint: they either […]

“The world isn’t built for the needs of disabled kids quite yet. Until it is, we must work hard finding creative ways to get things done & make life fun!”

The ABCs of Disabilities by Sean Gold

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When you’re speaking to directly to an audience of mostly children, especially ones who either can’t read independently yet, or are just learning to read, it’s understandably easy to fall into a lot of simple traps.  A lot of picture books I’ve encountered are either too babyish or too preachy, too oversimplified or not simplified enough; Many times it feels as if some authors have not interacted with an actual human child in their own recent memory, because they speak in ways kids don’t speak, […]

Another (Accidental) Picture Book for Me

The Art and Life of Hilma af Klint by Ylva Hillström, Karin Eklund (Illustrator)

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While perusing the Arlington Public Library’s List of Books You May Have Missed Last Year I spotted The Art and Life of Hilma af Klint written by Ylva Hillström and illustrated by Karin Eklund. I vaguely recognized af Klint’s name and popped it onto my list since a YA non-fiction was on my to read and this one struck my fancy, especially once I found out that Hillström is a curator at the Modern Art Museum in Stockholm. Woohoo for museum people writing books outside of […]

“If I’m on my very best behavior, maybe no one will notice how spooky I am.”

Hardly Haunted by Jessie Sima

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In January’s Cannonball Read Diversion there was a conversation about genres that you had never read before, and I thought to myself that there had to be at least one or two, but I was a little stumped. I didn’t really think about it again until it came time to review Hardly Haunted by Jessie Sima because without even having to look, I’m pretty sure I’ve never reviewed a picture book (and it’s been A LONG TIME since I read one either).   Hardly Haunted […]

Quick Pandemic Lit Rec for Littles

Maxine's Critters Get the Vaccine Jitters by Jan Zauzmer

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    Maxine’s Critters Get the Vaccine Jitters by Jan Zauzmer is a particularly timely story. Maxine lines up all her stuffed animals for their vaccinations, and then heads to her doctor for hers. The rhyme scheme is simple (with a few misses for me, but mostly solid), the illustrations by Corlette Douglas are noisy, creative and fun, and the pro-vaccine message is on point, especially as under-fives can finally get in line too. Understanding that it’s necessary, but also a little scary is something […]



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