A BALL FOR DAISY

       1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raschka, Chris. 2011. A BALL FOR DAISY. Ill. by Chris Raschka. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books. ISBN 9780375858611

       2. PLOT SUMMARY

In this colorful, wordless picture book, Chris Raschka illustrates the story of a dog named Daisy and her favorite red ball. Daisy enjoys all sorts of activities with the ball including doing tricks, taking naps, and playing at the park. However, one day at the park another dog captures Daisy's ball. While playing with the ball, the other dog pops it and Daisy is forced to go home with her less than perfect ball. After returning home, Daisy does not quite know what to do with herself without her trusty ball. The next day at the park Daisy is presented with an unexpected gift from the other dog and her owner – a brand new blue ball!

3.      CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Raschka's colorful watercolor illustrations tell the whole story in this wordless picture book. The use of sequential events on a single page allows the reader time to create the words in his or her mind. This same strategy of successive images on one page also allows the reader to gather greater detail about the story plot. In addition, the facial expressions and body language of the main character, Daisy, contribute to the plot development of the story.

Raschka's water color illustrations use bold lines and colors to create child-like illustrations. Lines used for the dog's leash, as well as marks indicating movement of her tail and body, help to put this story into action. The bright colors of red and blue help the beloved ball stand out against the more muted pastels used in the background. Overall, the child-friendly illustrations and energetic use of color and lines make this wordless book appealing to any reader.

4. PERSONAL RESPONSE: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

A notable strength of this book is the use of action and emotion in the illustrations to make it easy for any age to tell the story of this wordless book. A dog as the main character is a good choice because children and adults alike often have prior knowledge about pets. One possible weakness is the use of multiple illustrations on a single page depicting the passage of time. This strategy may prove confusing to young readers who have not developed sequencing skills. Some adult assistance may be needed in this case.

5. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Caldecott Medal Winner 2012 (ALSC) 


"A Ball for Daisy gets better each time I read it." (HORN BOOK)

"Raschka’s nuanced illustrations brilliantly depict joy, shock, disbelief, sadness–and, with the gift of a blue ball–renewed contentment." (SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL'S Best Books 2011)

“It puts you directly in the head space of its canine protagonist." (BOOKLIST)

6. CONNECTIONS

*Students can create their own words for the wordless book by brainstorming a list of nouns, verbs, and adjectives related to the illustrations (Random House, 2011).

*Students can create their own wordless book using only illustrations to tell a story (Random House, 2011).

*Share another wordless book for comparison purposes such as TIME FLIES (ISBN 0517595982) by Eric Rohmann (Random House, 2011).

Reference:

Random House Children's Books, "RandomHouse.com/kids." Last modified 2011. Accessed June 7, 2012. http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/teachers_guides/9780375858611.pdf.