1. Bibliography:
Raschka, Chris. A Ball
for Daisy. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN: 9780375958618
2. Plot Summary:
This wordless picture book is a story of Daisy the dog and
her beloved red ball. At the beginning of the story, the first few pages show
Daisy affectionately playing and sleeping with her red ball. When her owner, a
little girl, takes Daisy on a walk she throws the ball and another dog gets it
and pops it accidentally. Daisy becomes very upset and leaves the park with her
owner. Then next day on their walk, they run into the “ball ruining” dog and
his owner and she has a blue ball for the dogs to play with. The two dogs run
and play with the blue ball and in the end Daisy gets to take it home with her.
3. Critical Analysis:
The main character Daisy is a lovable black and white dog
with floppy ears who loves her red ball. This story is an honest depiction of
how a dog behaves…especially when they have a favorite toy. Just by looking at
the first couple of pages, you can see in Raschka's illustrations how much Daisy
loves this red ball. As the story continues, you can see and feel all the
emotions that Daisy is feeling as she loses the ball to another dog and watches
it pop at the park. The reader can feel her disappointment as Daisy walks back
home without the ball. When Daisy meets up at the park the next day and finds a
new blue ball to play with, you can’t help but smile and feel happy for her.
The illustrations are the best part of this book. The illustrations
are made with water colors and ink, which set this book apart from others.
Raschka's pictures take you through the story in a way that words cannot. The
reader can take their own meanings out of the pictures and draw their own
conclusions. I loved how some of his illustrations took over both pages and
made you go back and forth multiple times before turning the page. This book
definitely was a page turner!
This would be a great book to share with kids of all ages,
especially dog lovers. Reading A Ball for
Daisy allows many opportunities to discuss various types of emotions and requires
the reader to think about what the characters might be feeling throughout the
book. I highly recommend this book for many reasons as there are many teachable
moments throughout.
4. Review Excerpts:
Best Illustrated Children’s Book Awards by the New York
Times
Winner of the 2012 Randolph Caldecott Medal
School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2011
Starred Review, School Library Journal: "Raschka’s
genius lies in capturing the essence of situations that are deeply felt by
children."
Starred Review, Horn Book: "a story that is noteworthy for both its artistry and its child appeal."
Starred Review, Kirkus Review: “Rarely, perhaps never, has so steep an emotional arc been drawn with such utter, winning simplicity.”
Starred Review, Horn Book: "a story that is noteworthy for both its artistry and its child appeal."
Starred Review, Kirkus Review: “Rarely, perhaps never, has so steep an emotional arc been drawn with such utter, winning simplicity.”
5. Connections:
*Great tool for teaching kids about drawing conclusions and
about emotions.
*For other books by Chris Raschka:
Norton, Juster and Raschka, Chris. The Hello, Goodbye Window. ISBN: 9780786809141
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