Customer Reviews

A Ball for Daisy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am usually not one to appreciate wordless books. I need to have some text in order to enjoy a picture book and to help kids enjoy it too. This book is an exception. Raschka is a brilliant picture book illustrator. He works magic with his squiggly bold lines and his thick strokes of the brush. The depth of emotion he can portray and his expressive charm and humor are on full display in this short little story.

Daisy is a puppy who loves her ball. She loves playing with it and when one day her owner takes her to the park, the ball comes along. A playful romp with another dog turns disastrous when Daisy's ball pops and she is heartbroken. I say heartbroken because this dog is SAD. Raschka's illustrations are sure to touch the heart of any young child who has ever lost his favorite toy. This is all about Daisy, since we only see her owner's face at the very end. It's a feel good ending when Daisy goes back to the park only to meet up with the same dog and her owner. The good news is that they have brought a new ball to play with and Daisy gets to take it home.

This book is sure to elicit lots of smiles and teaches a good lesson about being considerate with other people's toys. Mainly though, it's just a fun little story to share with your child and a good pick for any toddler or preschoolers personal collection. Recommended.

Okay, I need a place to vent.

To all those on the Caldecott Selection Committee, you have GOT to GET OVER your OBSESSION with wordless picture books. Just because a book utilizes pictures alone to tell the story, that does not automatically make it worthy of the Medal. Seriously, it is getting out of hand. In the past 10 years, you have given it to wordless picture books 4 TIMES. It is starting to become a cheap gimmick, but you continue to suffer knee-jerk reactions to validate them.

Don't get me wrong. Tuesday is brilliant. Flotsam is also very good. The Three Pigs first showed your googly lovestruck eyes for this genre, even when the book wasn't that great. The Lion and the Mouse, I could forgive that one since Jerry Pinkney was long overdue. But now, A Ball for Daisy, and Chris Raschka receives his SECOND Medal!!?!?! No, no, no, no.

A Ball for Daisy does not deserve the Caldecott. I know that Raschka's style is unconventional, but I enjoyed Hello Goodbye Window, so it is not as if I am completely opposed to his art. The problem is that in A Ball for Daisy, the art is not clear enough to stand alone without words. Worse, the LAYOUT of the pictures does not provide a clear path for children to follow the story. The only way this story will make sense to a young child is for an adult to ADD words. I have read this book to third grade and kindergarten, and neither class was impressed or even engaged by this story.

For all the rest of you that don't follow the history of the Caldecott, and are checking out this book because it won the Medal, I have a recommendation for you. If you really want the best picture book of the year with the most outstanding illustrations, I recommend Grandpa Green by Lane Smith. It is gorgeous and children are enthralled by it. It puts tears in my eyes. Somehow, the same committee that picked A Ball for Daisy for the Medal had enough good taste to also give Grandpa Green an Honor.

Rarely do I read a book that touches me so deeply. Certainly part of my enthusiasm for the text has to do with my own ball-loving pup, but the layers of emotion that the illustrator creates are incredible. The simple story - dog loses and ultimately reclaims a beloved toy - is altered into a deeper text about how profound loss can be, even if the loss seems small to those around you. The book is wordless, but truthfully, I think words would be superfluous to the book as a whole. I see this as a definite Caldecott option this year.

I saw that Chris Raschka's latest book---A Ball for Daisy--was recently named one of the NY TImes Best Children's Illustrated Books of 2011 and I wanted to see if perhaps it would be a good gift for the holidays or for a baby gift or something similar. So I picked the book up, brought it home, and thought I would try it out on my 9 year old twins. Their first reaction "Dad there are no words!" In fact, Raschka crafted a really good story about a young child and her dog all without the use of any words. And that in it of itself was interesting for my kids as they immediately gravitated towards making up their own words and telling me the story instead of me reading it to them. The basic storyline is about a girl who takes her dog and his favorite red ball out to play and throughout the course of their romping around the ball pops, which makes both the dog and the child sad. The story of couse has a happy ending as the dog finds a new friend with a new blue ball and they have a great time together with the dog and daughter going home happy and tired. A great story for kids (and adults) of all ages.

I think Chris Raschka the best when it comes to being able to express a wide range of emotions through watercolor. I've long been a fan of his Yo! Yes? (Scholastic Bookshelf)which uses only 34 words to tell a story. A Ball For Daisy wordlessly relies on the illustrations; which do a fantastic job of conveying the love between a dog and ball. Looking at the lines, I can see in my mind's eye, the brush touching the paper.

I had been meaning to "read" this book for a while, and now I wished I hadn't waited so long. The title immediately intrigued me because I own a ball-lovin' pooch myself. Oh, how she loves her ball! So, I immediately understood the sadness of having another dog run and snatch the ball only to pop (or in my own case, split) it. Yet, in a message of "accidents sometimes happen" the next day, during a visit to the park, the other dog owner brings a new BLUE ball to replace the one that was ruined. A nice life lesson in taking responsibility for one's actions. Well done and worth reading.

I just learned A Ball for Daisy is the winner of the 2012 Caldecott for best illustrated children's book. It is well deserved.

A Ball for Daisy is the winner of the 2012 Caldecott award.

What I liked about this book: I loved it all. After being disappointed in the 2011 Caldecott winner I wasn't holding out too much hope for this year. I am pleased to say I was very pleasantly surprised. Raschka's illustrations are outstanding. Children will easily be engaged with the brilliant water color scenes. Even though it is a wordless picture book (a genre I truly love), the story is expertly told in the illustrations. This is a great book to used with a lesson on sharing, friendship, disappointment and even sentence writing/story telling. Do you have a student that needs some practice creating ideas/sentences? Sit them down with this beautiful book and have them tell the story.

What I didn't like about the book: I loved it all. I've already ordered it for the Endeavour library and it is high on my personal wish list.

Recommended for Pre-school and up.

AR Book Level: No AR level

Mrs. Archer's rating: 5 of 5!!

When I try to sit down and read cleverly worded books from front to back with my 17-month-old son, frustration generally ensues. A much better form of "reading aloud" these days involves pointing to pictures and talking about them, and jumping from page to page in an order not originally intended by the author. Wordless books are perfect for this.

"A Ball for Daisy" is a particularly sweet and creative wordless book. It follows the adventures of a lively dog named Daisy as she loses her treasured ball, is given a new one, and gains a friend in the process. It's a great story for young ones who have attachment objects, and who are still learning how to make and be friends. The illustrations are full of life, movement, and emotion.

That said, I agree with a previous reviewer that Grandpa Green seems like a much more deserving choice for the 2012 Caldecott Medal. "A Ball for Daisy" is a lovely playful romp that I enjoyed reading with my toddler, but I'm looking forward to when my son is old enough to enjoy the depth and subtlety of books like "Grandpa Green."

They got it right on the Caldecott Medal this year!

"A Ball for Daisy" is a perfect dog-meets-ball story told in squiggly, brilliant, primary hues. It is beautiful, not to mention packed with every extreme of canine emotion: jubilation, desolation, resignation, and back again.

And hey - what's this? Could these also be the extremes of young human emotion?

An American child exposed to books probably falls asleep with a clean pillow, a roof to keep the rain out, and food in her belly. In the scheme of things, this is a lucky child, and a child whose world is limited. But among the things to which she can relate is a pet - in this case an irresistibly cute and furry white dog named Daisy -- a pet who is all delighted and wiggly because she has a new toy.

Raschka depicts pretty much everything that can be done with one ball, one mouth, one tail and four paws. But then, not only because it must but also because it does, catastrophe strikes. Daisy's ball is punctured by a bigger dog, and our heroine's delight becomes first puzzlement and then despair.

In the instant Daisy realizes that her flattened ball is flattened for all time, she howls in protest. Her lament speaks to the very injustice of the universe and, like the death of Black Beauty or (Jack London's) Buck, it almost brought me to tears.

But - ha! This is a book for young children. And young children need hope if the species is to survive Soon Raschka, with a clever twist that is also a nod to friendship, delivers an ending that restores Daisy's happiness while also making sense.
I loved this book.

A Ball Daisy by Chris Raschka is lovely and moving book. There are no words...just beautiful watercolor illustrations. No words are needed, as Raschka tells us a story about Daisy and her red ball. Daisy loves her ball...one day, she goes to the park and brings her ball. Another dog accidentally breaks it. The stages of denial, grief and sadness that Daisy goes through are complete and terrible--unbelievably captured with the magical illustrations. Poor Daisy goes home and sleeps without her beloved ball that night. But the next day at the park, surprise! The dog who ruined her ball comes back with its owner and a new blue ball that they give to Daisy! Happiness and joy!

I am tempted to mount and frame every illustration and put them on a wall...

A lovely story and magical illustrations! I imagine that A Ball for Daisy will become a classic and am happy it has already won awards, including the prestigious Caldecott.

Shocked that the author of Mysterious Thelonious and Giant Steps could put out a new book without any jazz!!!! Quelle domage!