Yellow Ball (Picture Puffins) [Paperback]

Molly Bang (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1993 | Series: Picture Puffins

Full-color illustrations highlight a clever adventure story about a forgotten ball that drifts out to sea, endures a violent storm, and washes ashore to be found by a new young owner. Reprint. K. AB.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Forgotten at the water's edge, a ball is pulled into the ocean by the tide and eventually washed up on another shore. Told in a mere 28 words, this tale could be slight, but in Bang's ( The Paper Crane ; Ten, Nine, Eight ) experienced hands, it becomes a fully realized drama. The yellow ball, tiny in a vast, vivid sea, bobs along and is viewed from the perspectives of a gull and a fish, and from "high" above a bridge. Then a storm arises, but the ball outlasts the gale and is finally deposited safely on a beach--where it is spotted by a boy. The final illustration depicts the sleeping lad hugging his newfound treasure. The one-word accompaniment to this gratifying scene at the end of an arduous journey is, simply and satisfyingly, "Home." Ages 2-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K-- The prodigiously talented Bang uses pastels, tempera paint, and some collage to create shimmering pictures of beaches and the sea in this story about a yellow ball that is lost in play. She employs unusual perspectives, rich colors, and wonderful textures as the ball goes to sea through a storm and a night to another sunny, empty beach where a little boy finds it and rapturously carries it home. The brilliant light on the final beach and the tenderly portrayed mother and child who joyously find the ball are almost worth the whole book. Unfortunately, the simple text creates a jarring effect and the resulting story line seems arbitrary. Somehow the movement and pace is off, and readers' emotions are not engaged. The young people who lose the ball look like adults on one page and children on the next. The concepts used don't quite fit. For example, "catch" and "throw" don't match the gestures they caption. The panel captioned "above" suggests a picture of the sun as much as a ball. The placement of the ball in subsequent pictures creates a sense of dislocation rather than coherent movement. This simple picture book could be seen as a story of a carelessly treated toy finding a loving home, but the beautiful pictures call for poetry, not abrupt phrases. An unsuccessful work by Bang is better than many picture books on the market, but she has set a fine standard, and this effort falls short. Large collections will want it for the high calibre of the art. --Marilyn Iarusso, New York Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140548289
• ISBN-13: 978-0140548280
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,836,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Molly Bang is an award winning children's book illustrator and author. Her
works include 3 Caldecott Honor Books: Ten, Nine, Eight, The Grey Lady and the
Strawberry Snatcher, and When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry, which
also won a Jane Addams Honor Award and the Arbuthnot Award. The Paper Crane
won the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award in 1987; Goose won the School of Library
Journal Best Book of 1996 and another work, Common Ground: The Water, Earth,
and Air We Share, won the prestigious Giverny Book Award in 1998 for the best
children's science picture book. Her latest book, My Light, is an ALA Notable
book.

Her only work for adults is Picture This, which shows how an understanding of
the most basic principles enable a person to build powerful pictures. It is
used by art and graphic departments in colleges around the country.

Bang received her bachelor degree from Wellesley in French, and Masters in
Far Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona and at Harvard. She has also
worked as a reporter; as an educator for public health projects in Bangladesh
and in Mali, West Africa, incorporating information on maternal and child
health into stories; and as a teacher in colleges.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A favorite kid-pick at my 2 year old daughter's daycare, April 17, 2000

By 

an adoptive parent (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yellow Ball (Library Binding)

This book entrances the 2+ year olds in my daughter's daycare center with its beautiful, wordless illustrations. A peaceful, enchanting book that I wish were not out of print so we could enjoy our own copy at home!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new approach to concept introduction, July 3, 2001

By 

"abookbug" (Dublin, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yellow Ball (Picture Puffins) (Turtleback)

Simple, one or two word descriptions are a perfect, minimalist accompaniment to the unconventional, striking illustrations from interesting perspectives that reinforce concepts like "above," "below," "near," and "far" in this book. Of course, what my toddler liked the very most was finding the bright yellow "ball!" on every page.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great when used with the Five-in-a Row curriculum, June 26, 2003

By 

Dbeard "meganzmom" (Pearl, MS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yellow Ball (Paperback)

Otherwise, I don't think I would have gotten as much enjoyment from it! My daughter likes the book, and we play hide-and-seek with her yellow ball.