seasons – Cannonball Read 17

Winter, spring, summer and fall, all ya gotta do is read the poems

Poems for Every Season by Bette Westera and David Colmer

November 14, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

A while back I requested several picture books from an online reader site. One of them was Poems for Every Season by Bette Westera and David Colmer (translator). I was not sure what I would get. I mean I figured poems and seasons (and of course most likely poems about seasons), but I did not have super high expectations. I figured things would be good, but not great. Plus, I just did not want to be disappointed as I had been a lot before (and since) reading […]

Poems from new shoes and falling leaves to friendship to growing up

Poetry Comics by Grant Snider

October 7, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The only reason Poetry Comics is a four and not a five rating is there were two things I was not loving. The first is that sometimes a poem felt finished but kept on going and the second was that I was not sure why some of the poems were in that particular season. Such as many in the season of winter did not match with my idea of winter. However, Grant Snider’s works are fun stories done in clever poetry. They made cute illustrations […]

Seeing through touch, taste, smell, and sound

I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea by Janice Milusich and Chris Raschka

June 13, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea is a lovely, poetic text and soft classical story that also has several modern takes. Author Janice Milusich’s text and Chris Raschka styled illustrations make up this familiar season’s story (we have a child who follows the seasons in the usual ways by talking about the sun, how things feel, colors and more) but this time there is a wonderful twist of having a visually impaired narrator. This narrator must experience these things differently, therefore seems to […]

I only counted one of the four as they are short short (but cute) board books

Hello, Beach! by Katherine Pryor and Rose Soini

April 9, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

All three board books which were read, were read via an online reader copy. All (but the one I have not yet read) are currently available. If you like easy board books that have a seasonal overtone, then the Katherine Pryor and Rose Soini books are for you. We have the books Hello, Beach!, Hello, Rain!, and Hello, Garden! And due in September 2025 is Hello, Snow! Overall, things are terribly simple as they are aimed at not just the board book crowd to look […]

The community of solstice

Winter Solstice Wish by Kate Allen Fox and Elisa Paganelli

February 13, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I am not jumping up and down and saying Winter Solstice Wish by Kate Allen Fox and illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (currently available, but I read via an online reader copy) is the best solstice book ever, but I am jumping in to say this is a nice and slightly different approach to the subject. What I have seen for solstice books tend to show more winter scenes and events done to celebrate the seasonal moment. When we find the shortest day of the year, […]

What does your garden grow?

Logan's Greenhouse by JaNay Brown-Wood

November 22, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

It happened again! I was clicking on a link for book A and book B showed up. This time the book B was Logan’s Greenhouse by JaNay Brown-Wood and illustrated by Samara Hardy. And while the book is from 2022 this online link was still fresh and ready for reading. I figured I might as well give it a shot, especially since a second book I tried had the same wrong link and I figured the universe was telling me something. Now, Logan’s Greenhouse is […]

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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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