Read this children's book back in November of 2011. My review - A wordless read. Calligraphic brush strokes. A simple plot. With repeated reading this book will grow on you.
Chris Raschka's story of resilience overcoming an everyday trouble was selected as the 2011 Randolph Caldecott winner for best illustration.
Raschka's wordless picture book recounts the saga of a white and grey terrier whose beloved red ball is stolen by a bigger, brown poodle. The ball bursts and Daisy's spirit seems to break with it, until the poodle returns with a blue ball that leaves everyone equally content.
According to Raschka, the inspiration for this tale was his son, who at the age of 4 was devastated when his yellow ball broke during a scrape with a neighbor. Raschka says he began thinking of "those first feelings of losing something beloved" and knowing you cannot get it back. For the story, Raschka changed the main character from a boy to a dog.
During a telephone interview, Raschka said, "When you're a picture book illustrator, your readers are often 3 or 4 years old, and you don't want the drawing to be upsetting in itself."
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