Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Discover the Moonlight Zoo

The Midnight Zoo by Maudie Powell-Tuck

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Author Maudie Powell-Tuck starts in the middle of the story in The Midnight Zoo where we learn Eva has lost her cat Luna. Eva has looked all over and taken all sorts of actions to find them. Of course, as bedtime comes around, and Luna is not found, Eva is obviously distressed. Then, in what you can believe is a real event, or a dream, Eva finds herself at the titled zoo, where the animals help her look for said cat. Overall, things are whimsical, […]

My sister the elephant

The Secret Elephant : Inspired By a True Story of Friendship by Ellan Rankin

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You have heard of Winnie The Pooh and Wojtek the Bear from Brothers In Arms but did you know about the elephant named Sheila? (Or Violet? As I’m finding conflicting accounts, yet I’m going with Sheila as that is what is in The Secret Elephant : Inspired By a True Story of Friendship by Ellan Rankin.) Despite the name difference, the story is one of heroism at another level. And maybe a little silliness. Our young elephant is by themselves, except for their zookeeper. The […]

Picture book round up part… I’ve lost count

The Mighty Pollinators by Helen Frost

Too Much!: An Overwhelming Day by Jolene Gutierrez

Steve Irwin by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegar

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Helen Frost will have a new pollen book at the end of March-early April 2024 called The Mighty Pollinators. No, this is not a book and/or graphic novel about a new DC or Marvel movie of superheroes, but it is a book about the critters, insects, buggies, and even the wind, and how they make your garden, flowers, and more, grow. This is all done with fairly shorter poems that allow for the facts to be presented, but also in a fun and quick manner. […]

The hash-tagged elephant

The World’s Loneliest Elephant: Based on the True Story of Kaavan and His Rescue by Ralph Fletcher

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Another book that made me tear up is The World’s Loneliest Elephant: Based on the True Story of Kaavan and His Rescue by Ralph Fletcher. This is a story about Kaavan, the elephant that was taken from a sanctuary, given as a gift to a young girl, but lived in the Pakistani zoo for years. Of course, at the time the conditions were beyond horrific. To the point that when finally animal activist Dr. Amir Khalil organized the elephants rescue, it was almost unable to […]

“Mingle! Guide! Delight!” isn’t a bad philosophy

Leave it to Plum by Matt Phelan

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Leave it to Plumby Matt Phelan is the story of a “peppy purple peacock” & his trials & tribulations at the Athensville Zoo. Plum is a legacy – the however many times great grandson of the original zoo peacocks, given free wandering rights at the zoo, who are responsible for mingling, guiding & delighting the zoo’s visitors. Plum’s a great bird, if a little flighty (in the always late & a little scatterbrained way, not the bird way), who friends everywhere, and takes his duties […]

I want a friend like Plum

Leave It to Plum! by Matt Phelan

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Plum can be a bit, shall we say, enthusiastic and naïve, but that also makes them endearing in Leave It to Plum! by Matt Phelan. Plum is a peacock at the local zoo. Plum and their peacock friends and family wander freely throughout greeting guests. Until one day peacock feathers have been found at the scene of several crimes within the zoo. Plum cannot imagine anyone in the zoo trying to frame them, but Plum soon learns that sometimes things are not what they seem, […]



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