Vanessa Brantley-Newton – Cannonball Read 17

Two reviews for you

Mary Had a Little Jam by Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Pencil by Hye-Eun Kim

April 10, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

My recent picture book reading day included a lot of books. So many in fact that I had to break them into two different reviews. Also read and now included in this review were Mary Had a Little Jam by Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton and Pencil by Hye-Eun Kim. Well, Hye-Eun Kim’s book was more looked at than read as it is a wordless picture book. And still Pencil is something that I can write several words about. The fun part of this book […]

His first day of kindergarten

The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes

August 16, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The best part of The King of Kindergarten is it is just a story about going to kindergarten. There is nothing preachy or moral giving about it. There are great illustrations and a fun story about one young man’s adventures when he goes off to his first day of kindergarten. The not so best of The King of Kindergarten is it is just a story about going to kindergarten. While it has a more modern feel and tone than books of the past, there is […]

Grandma’s Purse

May 14, 2018 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Grandma Mimi is Mary Poppins. Okay, so it seems like she is Ms. Poppins because of her own “magical” purse. It does not hold anything that a regular purse would not hold (earrings, mirror, hair pins, scarf, candy, etc.), but somehow, it is extra special because it is Mimi’s bag. Or at least her granddaughter thinks so. The great thing about the book is it is just a story about a granddaughter and her grandmother. They have fun dressing up, talking, looking at pictures, sharing […]

A Night Out

May 14, 2018 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

First and foremost, these are fantastic illustrations. The colors are dark and rich. They are vibrant and pop off the page. Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s illustrations make the book worth having just for them. They show a loving family doing what families do: getting up in the morning, teasing each other, eating and getting ready for parties. However, I am not sure what the party was. Is it really a premier to some event? Was it really a red-carpet affair? I am leaning towards, no, it is […]

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