Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
July 1, 2018/in Picture Book Under 5s Pre-School/Nursery/Infant /by Ellie
BfK Rating:
BfK 231 July 2018
Reviewer: Diana Barnes
ISBN: 978-1786030313
Price: £11.99
Publisher: Lincoln Children's Books
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: Under 5s Pre-School/Nursery/Infant
Length: 40pp
Buy the Book

Cannonball Coralie and the Lion

Author: Grace Easton

Coralie, a solid girl in a stripy tunic, lives in the woods on her own, stands on her hands, swings from tree to tree and can juggle five squirrels. “Funny and brave, and silly and strange”, she joins a troupe of circus people travelling through her woods,  befriends  Lion, and asks  The Man in a Big Hat who tells everyone what to do and how to do it, if she can join them. Her tricks are not up to standard, but she is the right size to be the human cannonball, and does that for one performance (a rather scary experience: Kaboom!)  Again, she was not up to the standard required, and is told to pack her bags and go. She has no bags to pack, but does go to say Goodbye to Lion. The Man in the Big Hat shouts “Get back to work! More tricks! Less smiling! And absolutely NO caring about each other!”, which makes Lion do an enormous ROAR that blows away the Man in the Big Hat, and the circus people, free at last, go to live in the woods with Coralie and learn to swing through the trees and juggle five squirrels- just for fun.

One of many young artists working for The Bright Agency, Grace Easton is well established in design, but this is her debut picture book. The story is odd, but appealing, and the illustrations are fun- the Man in a Big Hat, with his flowing moustache, looks very fierce indeed, and speaks in capital letters, while Lion looks friendly with a very circular mane.  The design is good; the double-page spread of Coralie, her eyes shut tight as she is shot from the cannon, is shown as if from the roof of Big Top with hundreds of faces in the audience open-mouthed below, and text is used imaginatively throughout. This picturebook will be fun to share or to read aloud.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Ellie http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Ellie2018-07-01 09:36:182021-04-07 09:40:06Cannonball Coralie and the Lion

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue BfK 255 July 2022
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Sarah Hagger-Holt wins the 2022 Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction 2022

July 21, 2022

Maisie Chan and her editor Georgia Murray of Piccadilly Press win the 2022 Branford Boase Award

July 14, 2022

Valerie Bloom wins the CLiPPA 2022

July 8, 2022

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2022 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Dinosaur Firefighters Zeki Gets a Checkup
Scroll to top