A Ball for Daisy by Chris Rashka

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rashka, Chris. A Ball for Daisy. New York: Schwartz and Wade Books, 2011. ISBN 978--375-85861-1


2. PLOT SUMMARY

This is the wordless story of a dog's love for a ball. A small pet dog is playing with a red ball. The grey dog loves to play with the ball around the house and on the furniture. The dog even sleeps and cuddles with the ball. One day, the little girl in polka dots and the dog go on a walk with the ball in tow. After being let off the leash at the park, the dog begins to play with the red ball. The ball gets trapped behind a fence and the dog cannot read it. As the little girl is giving the ball back to her dog, a brown dog pumps in and takes the ball playfully. The grey dog begins barking at the brown dog in anger for taking the ball. Before retrieving the ball, the brown dog pops the ball. The dog begins to mourn sadly for the loss of the red ball. The dog looks at the ball from different angles, shakes it around violently, and even howls, but nothing makes the ball the way it was before. The little girl in polka dots threw the ruined ball away while the dog followed sadly behind her. The dog did not want to play anymore without the special ball. The next time they went to the park they found the brown dog waiting with a girl in a stripes. The girl in stripes was holding a new blue ball. The grey dog was very excited and began to lay with the brown dog with the new blue ball. The happy grey dog left the park with the blue ball between its teeth as the two girls waved goodbye. The story ends with the dog cuddling to sleep with the new blue ball.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The art is as happy and playful as the small, shaggy dog in the story. The simple lines and lack of word do not hold back the large story and humanizing emotions. The images are not separated by breaks or borders and allow for quick comprehension of the narrative. As the images jump across the pages, the reader is able to jump along as if they are playing with the grey dog too. The loss of the ball is unexpected as if the pop of the ball was audible. The readers can sympathize with this loss, especially children. The audience rejoices for the dog when the blue ball is given to replace the red one.

The art looks like simple strokes of a watercolor brush that flow to show its playfulness and fun. The illustrations mimic the art of small children when finger paintings. Water color splashes are used for shadow and background. The comic book layout of many of the panels gives the story speed and urgency when leading up to the pop of the ball. The larger images stops the narrative to allow the audience to reflect and comprehend. The large images show happiness, sadness, and ends with happy again. The audience only sees what is most important to the shaggy dog, which are the massive green couch and the red and blue balls.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

2012 Caldecott Medal Winner

Lolly Robinson from Horn Book: "Raschka's sense of rhythm is flawless."

Danie Kraus from Booklist: "..feels like something of pure emotion. Pretty close approximation of what it's like to be a dog, probably."

From School Library Journal: "Ever the minimalist, Raschka continues to experiment with what is essential to express the daily joys and tribulations of humans and animals."

From Publisher's Weekly: "A wordless book with gentle, dreamlike spreads."


5. CONNECTIONS

Other Caldecott Medal Winners:
2010 Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. ISBN 8580001051925
2013 Klassen, Jon. This is Not My Hat. ISBN 9780763655990

Other books by Chris Raschka:
Daisy Gets Lost. ISBN 9780449817414
Peter and the Wolf with Sergei Prokofiev. ISBN 9781455825448

Lesson Plans:
Jayne Gammons has a wonderful blog called ABC's of Reading that has a post on a great lesson plan for A Ball for Daisy for grade school children. Through drama and storytelling, it teaches strategies in inferring and making connections in literature. Please visit: ABC's of Readng: A Ball for Daisy

Random House has a helpful PDF printable file on a Wordless Picture Book lesson plan. This valuable resource even has great worksheets! Please visit: Wordless Lesson Plan

Melissa Satin has a website dedicated to her certification portfolio. The lesson over a Ball for Daisy is very detailed. I appreciated the sections over evaluation. Please check it out: Satin's Certification Portfolio