"A Ball for Daisy" by Chris Raschka
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Raschka, Chris. A
Ball for Daisy. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011. ISBN 978-0-375-85851-1
2. PLOT
SUMMARY
A Ball for Daisy is a wordless picture book that
tells the story of a dog named Daisy and her favorite ball. Daisy loves the
ball so much that she takes it everywhere with her and even sleeps with it. Her
owner takes Daisy out for a walk one day and her ball gets taken away by another
dog wanting to play. Daisy tries her hardest to get her ball back but the other
dog is having too much fun playing with it. Unfortunately, while the other dog
was playing with the ball he pops it by accident. Daisy is very sad that she
lost her ball. Her owner throws the ball in the trash and takes Daisy home. Daisy's
owner takes her for another walk and they see the same dog with a new blue
ball. The other dog gives the new blue ball to Daisy which makes her very
happy.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Daisy is a lovable black, brown, and white dog
with floppy ears who loves her red ball. This story is an genuine representation
of how a dog behaves when they have a favorite toy. Raschka's illustrations do
a great job in showing how much Daisy loves this red ball. 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. You can feel her sadness as Daisy walks back home
without the ball. When Daisy gets a new blue ball to play with at the park you
cannot help but smile and feel happy for her.
The
illustrations are the best part of this book. The illustrations are made with
water colors which set this book apart from others. Raschka's pictures take you
through the story in a way that words cannot. 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 would be a great book to share with kids of
all ages.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Caldecott
Medal – 2011
New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s
Book – 2011
School Library Journal Best Picture Book – 2011
ALA
Notable Children’s Books, Younger Readers Category – 2012
From
School Library Journal: “Raschka's
genius lies in capturing the essence of situations that are deeply felt by
children.”
From Publisher’s
Weekly: “Readers should relate to Daisy’s sadness over the loss of her
treasured object while understanding that such losses can sometimes lead to
unexpected gains-maybe even a friend.”
5. CONNECTIONS
Gather other wordless Caldecott Medal books to
read such as:
Macaulay, David, Black and White,
ISBN: 978-0-618-63687-7
Wiesner David, Tuesday, ISBN:
978-0-395-87082-2
Gather other Chris Raschka books to read
such as:
Daisy gets lost, ISBN:
978-0-449-81741-4
Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle,
ISBN: 978-0-375-87007-1
To assist in language development, have students retell the story in
their own words as you page through the book.
Read the following books and compare and contrast them to A Ball for Daisy:
Day, Alexandra, Good Dog Carl, ISBN: 978-0-689-80748-0
Camesi, Monica, Little Dog Lost, ISBN: 978-0-399-25666-0
Sullivan, Mary, Ball, ISBN: 978-0-544-31361-3
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