A Ball For Daisy

Bibliography:
 Raschka,Chris.2011 A Ball for Daisy.Random House Children's Books.
ISBN-13: 9780375858611

Plot Summary:
 Winner of the 2012 Caldecott Medal. This is a a very simple story about  a dog named Daisywho loses his special toy, a ball, to a bigger dog and how loss can have an effect on anyone even if the loss is small.The author uses a wordless picture book to convey how  happiness and sadness of a toy change your daily life .Rascha uses colorful illustrations to create mood and unique watercolors  to make the characters come alive. The colors and illustrations used in the picture book show a wide variey of emotion held by the dog due to the loss of his favorite toy.. his ball.

Crtical Analyis:
 In this story loss is explained in a simple manner for a child to understand. Raschka uses a story of small dog and his toy getting broken by a larger dog to explain loss and how friends can help one another after experiencing a loss.Although the book is wordless the wonderfully illustrated sequence of the story is delightful as the plot unfolds in a familar yet surprising manner. The illustrations are very detailed and they tell the story by the facial expressions of the dog. The illustrations in the begiming show how happy Daisy is at the start and how she changes in the middle and end of the story through slight details .

Review Excerpts:

Starred Review, Horn Book, September/October 2011:
"a story that is noteworthy for both its artistry and its child appeal."

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2011:
“Rarely, perhaps never, has so steep an emotional arc been drawn with such utter, winning simplicity

Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2011:
"Raschka’s genius lies in capturing the essence of situations that are deeply felt by children."

Connections:

Another book for children and toys  is Mine by Shutta Crum illustrated by Patrice Barton. This is a picture based book about two children and a dog who have problems sharing with one another.

Teachers can use this book for narrative writing, sequence, and cause and effect relationships.

This picturebook can help children who are readers and non-readers with the basic art of storytelling. Students can learn about emotions and analyze how and why they change..