A Ball for Daisy

Module 1: Book Review 4 

Bibliography	Raschka, C. (2011). A ball for Daisy. Schwartz & Wade Books.  ISBN 9780375858611
Plot Summary	Daisy, a white dog, is given a red ball by her owner. It became her favorite toy, and she plays with it all the time. Her owner and Daisy go out on a walk and Daisy brings her ball with her. On the walk she meets another dog, that is brown, and they begin to play. As they are playing the ball pops. This broke Daisy’s heart, and she grieves openly that can be seen and felt in the illustrations. In the end Daisy and her owner go for another walk and the brown dog brings a blue ball to gift her. Daisy was thankful and ecstatic to have a new ball.
Critical Analysis	Ball for Daisy is a wordless picture book that won the 2012 Caldecott Medal. Chris Raschka illustrations are all watercolors that narrate the story. Stories like this give the reader the freedom to “read” the images and interpret the emotions and events. The illustrations are at the level where children can read Daisy’s emotions and tell her story. The colors that are used help read her emotions. The red ball is the brightest object on each page and I understood this as it being a bright light in her life, and it’s her focus. When the ball pops the colors become darker showing her grief. Being able to “read” this wonderful story helps build early literacy skills like inferencing, sequencing and being able to understand and relate with emotions in a story. This is a favorite book in my household for all ages.
Review Excerpts	Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2011: “Raschka’s genius lies in capturing the essence of situations that are deeply felt by children.” Starred Review, Horn Book, September/October 2011: “A story that is noteworthy for both its artistry and its child appeal.”
Connections	This is a wordless picture book that makes any child a reader. Give it to students to make their own story and compare it to other students.  Students working on writing can label each page then grow to write sentences to match the story.  Discussions about loss and recovery could be brought into conversations.