2012 Caldecott Medal Winner
A Ball for Daisy
Written and illustrated by Chris Raschka
It’s a wordless story of a little dog, who takes her favorite red ball to the park, only to see another dog destroy it. Raschka’s paintings in watercolor, gouache and ink are deceptively simple, but very moving, and these illustrations capture Daisy’s tale of loss, recovery and friendship. Wordless books build a foundation for literacy because they give a very young child a sense of reading plus the sequence of illustrations tells the story as the child turns the pages. While developing a child’s vocabulary and comprehension skills, the wordless book allows the child to narrate a new story at each reading and learn that stories have a beginning, middle and end.
A panel of U.S. librarians and book experts read thousands of picture books published each year in the United States and award the Caldecott Medal to the artist or illustrator of the most distinguished book. For more detailed information and criteria used to make the selection for the Caldecott Medal see Credo reference article:
For more information about Randolph Caldecott, the man for whom the medal was created, see:
Marcus, Leonard S. "Medal Man: Randolph Caldecott and the Art of the Picture Book." Horn Book Magazine 77.2 (2001): 155-170. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.
The article provides information on the children's book illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Caldecott's name is well-known from the award created in his honor, but his books are largely forgotten. Caldecott earned instant praise for "The House That Jack Built" and "The Diverting History of John Gilpin," both published in 1878.
A Ball for Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka. JUV PZ7 .R1814 B355 2011
