i have become a big fan of Picture Book author and illustrator, Mr Chris Raschka. I first made his acquaintance some time ago with a book called A Ball For Daisy.
A Ball for Daisy was published in 2011 by Schwartz & Wade Books. It was the 2012 Caldecott Medal Winner.
There are no words in A Ball for Daisy. Just pictures of a happy little dog who receives a new red ball. No words are necessary to see the JOY that comes from having a new red ball! It is written in the sparkle in Daisy’s eyes. Daisy’s girl takes Daisy and her new ball to the park to play, and oh dear! Another dog steals Daisy’s ball! And bursts it! No words are necessary to see the devastation that comes from losing your new red ball. It’s there in the hanging head and tail. Poor Daisy. But the next day the owner of the murderous dog presents a new blue ball to Daisy. Oh JOY! No words are necessary to see the relief and forgiveness. It’s there in Daisy’s prance. This book is an emotional roller coaster. Laughter and tears and cheering. I love reading this book with kids. They GET it!
Well, Mr Raschka was at the Texas Book Festival recently talking about his new book — Daisy Gets Lost. Published in 2013 by Schwartz & Wade Books.
In Daisy Gets Lost, Daisy and her girl go to the park with Daisy’s blue ball. Daisy gets distracted by a squirrel and chases it into the woods. Uh oh! Daisy’s lost in the woods! She doesn’t know where her girl is! And her girl doesn’t know where she is! Now we have the 1st words in the book “DAISY!!!!” We see the girl and the dog running back and forth frantically. Then Daisy howls! And her girl can find her. Yay! Happy reunion!! Another emotional story. The Mom Person got me my very own copy of Daisy Gets Lost and Mr Raschka signed it for me —
We read this book to some kindergarteners recently. They were supposed to write a story, but they didn’t know how to write the words!! So we showed them how a story didn’t really need written words. You could do it all with pictures! They were quite excited! No letters and no words to write. They could do that! And they did. They did some awesome stories!
I love wordless books. They spark imaginations and one story can become lots of stories.
Mr Raschka has written and illustrated many, many books. I have enjoyed several of them (I reviewed Fishing in the Air by Sharon Creech and illustrated by Mr Raschka here.) and want to find more. His artwork is big and bold and loose and free and full of emotion. Not all of his books are wordless. He does a nice job with poetic verse as well. He has done several books about jazz musicians in which you can feel the Rhythm and beat.
For such a prolific author and illustrator I could find no website for Mr Raschka. But you can read about him HERE and HERE and HERE
A video of Mr Raschka talking books –
Now I’m off to play with my red ball —
I hope you have a JOYous week! And don’t get lost!
Your friend in the woods
Rhythm
Reading With Rhythm 
Oooh – I love “A Ball for Daisy” because, really, everyone needs a red ball! (great photo of you with your red ball…) I love the idea of telling a story with pictures. I call it “telling” rather than “reading” because, while the story is captured in the illustrations, everyone looking at the pictures will tell it in their own words.
Yes! That’s true. Even stories with words are seen differently by each reader. But especially wordless picture books are open to interpretation.
Getting lost would be scary. Sometimes I am also scared of my ball, but mostly, I like it. Unless Mom says the word, “Fetch.” I can do without that word!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I’ve never been lost that I can recall. Except that recent wandering episode. I knew where I was so I wasn’t scared, but the Mom Person didn’t know so she was scared. i get upset when I lose my ball. And i love that word “Fetch”!! It means play time! Isn’t it funny how we all see the world so differently? Like stories!
If I could draw a picture on this computer I would not need words to tell you it is a great book. thanks for sharing it, nanny
Drawing pictures on the computer should be your next goal!
I like wordless books, too. Something so organic about them. And now you can have an example to show the kindergartners. Great post! 🙂
Organic. That’s a good thing. We actually have quite a collection of wordless books that we share with kids. They are a great tool. Thanks for your thoughts Ms Jahn!!
🙂
Really enjoyed the video of Chris Raschka and how he does his books!
Glad you enjoyed it — I did too! He is quite a clever gentleman.
I like his wordless books too. I loved Fishing in the Air. And, I know Rhythm loves “A BAll for Daisy” and “Daisy Gets Lost.”
Isn’t he just incredible?!
I am a wordless book fan too – as are my kindergarten kids. They can spark so much imagination and conversation. I am going to have to check these ones out. Thanks.
I think your kids will really like these!
He’s a great author! 🙂
He most certainly is!
This is one of my favorite wordless picture books, Rhythm, and I am not surprised you love it so much.
What pretty pictures. But the new book about getting lost sounds scary.