A Ball for Daisy

October 22, 2015

wordless picture book
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A Ball for Daisy

By Chris Raschka

Schwartz and Wade Books

New York

2011

As I may have mentioned, one of my sons is a librarian at our local public library. This is a great help to me in so many ways! For one thing he always has the “inside scoop” on the newest books as they arrive in the library and he’s always looking for ones he thinks I might like. When he comes over for dinner, he’ll often bring some books for me to preview. Then usually on the next holiday, there is that book tied up with a ribbon! And if HE isn’t giving me a book, then my husband or one of my nieces will surprise me with a newly published picture book. For Mother’s Day, 2012, Adam surprised me with A Ball for Daisy. Of course any gift from your children is special, and this was no exception! This book happened to be the Caldecott Medal Award Winner for 2011. This medal is awarded each year to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Once you read this book, I think you’ll agree the committee made a great choice!

A Ball for Daisy is a wordless picture book. I immediately fell in love with the adorable dog, Daisy, but I wasn’t at all sure how I would share this with my first grade classes. I knew they would love the illustrations and find Daisy very appealing, but how could I “read” it to the children? However, I was determined to do just that! When my first class came to the library I still didn’t have a plan, but then as we discussed the cover of the book and what it might tell us about the story, it came to me. I would have the children create the story to go along with the pictures! They loved the experience and all wanted a chance to contribute – even the children who rarely were brave enough to raise their hand. I especially loved their reactions when Daisy’s ball popped. They showed so much empathy for Daisy and immediately related her experience to experiences in their own lives. I’m always striving to teach children to have more empathy for others and suddenly that was happening during my lesson. Wow! What a great bonus! In fact, A Ball for Daisy turned out to be one of everyone’s favorite story times.

I highly recommend sharing this book with your children or your class and using the same method. You and your child could take turns making up the text for each page. The children will gain confidence in their creativity from this experience, they will gain language practice and most importantly they will have some one on one time with mom or dad.

If you find that you and your child have fun with the wordless picture book technique, here are a few more you might try:

Zoom by Istvan Banyai

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno

Daisy Gets Lost by Chris Raschka

Do You want to be My Friend? by Eric Carle

Journey by Aaron Becker

 

After reading several of these, your child may be inspired to write their own story for one of these books or create the illustrations and the text for a book of their own! Let me know about your experiences with wordless picture books with your child. Do you have some other favorites?Screen Shot 2015-10-18 at 4.28.46 PM

More about Susan

Hi! I'm Susan, a wife, a mom and a recently retired elementary school librarian with 22 years of experience. One of my greatest joys is to connect kids with a perfect book, which then leads them to a lifelong love of learning. Through my blog, I'm hoping to reach parents, their children and teachers to help them find those special books. I’m also hoping to offer some tips and techniques to use with your children as you read aloud.

I appreciate your comments!

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