A+Ball+for+Daisy+2

=** A Ball for Daisy ** = 

Book Review by Chelsey Angeli

**Bibliographical Information:** Title: A Ball for Daisy Author: Chris Raschka Illustrator: Chris Raschka ISBN-13: 9780375858611 Publisher: Random House Children's Books Publication date: 5/10/2011 Pages: 32 Age range: 3 - 7 Years Language: English

**Author Biography:** Chris Raschka was born on March 6, 1959 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Raschka attended St. Olaf College and graduated with a degree in biology. He pursued careers in both music and medicine before he decided to become a writer and illustrator of children’s books. He has written over 40 books. Throughout his career as a writer he received many awards and recognitions for his work. He won the Best Books of the Year citation, the Notable Children’s Book citation, American Library Association (ALA), and more. His work uses words and pictures in order to teach a lesson to children in a creative and fun way. His work also tackles issues such as diversity, race, friendship, how to deal with strangers, and more.

**Summary:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is a wordless book about a dog named Daisy who loved a red ball. Daisy played and slept with the ball. One day Daisy went with her owner for a walk to the park and played with her ball. Daisy shared the ball with another dog and the other dog popped it. Daisy was very sad and went home. Daisy went back to the park and received a new blue ball. Daisy was happy again and went home with her blue ball.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Book Review:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I personally really enjoyed this book even though there were no words. I like how it gives students to ability to show imagination and creativity in telling the story in their own words by looking at the illustrations. I would definitely use this book in my own classroom for students to do just that. This story not only teaches students about creativity but it will also show students different emotions. They can see through the pictures Daisy’s reactions towards losing something she loved so much. By seeing these emotions it gives the students a chance to relate to the story as well. Maybe they have lost something close to them. Overall, I loved this book.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Literary Element Analysis:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrations are the key literary element within this book. The illustrations are very detailed and tell the whole story by what is going on in the pictures and also the facial expressions of the dog. Through the illustrations the students can see the emotions and details of the story. By seeing this students can use creativity to create their own words and story to this book. This would be beneficial in the classroom because students can learn about imagination and creativity. Students can also learn about emotions by seeing how the dog is feeling. Daisy is excited and happy in the beginning of the story then she becomes sad and then is happy again. Students can see why and explain in their own words what happened and exactly how she is feeling. The illustrations can also teach the students or give them opportunities to connect with the story. Maybe students have lost something important to them. Another way that this element benefits students is because not only can they use their creativity to create a story from the illustrations but they can work on their writing skills by writing out their own story as well.

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