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ROBERT MUNSCH

http://robertmunsch.com



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Raschka grew up in Pennsylvania and as a kid, loved to draw and read. He grew up with two siblings, a brother and a sister, and enjoyed playing musical instruments and painting. Raschka graduated St. Olaf College in Minnesota with a degree in biology. After travelling abroad for awhile he applied to medical school which he soon realized was not what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, he then decided he wanted to become a painter. Raschka began illustrating picture books while living in New York which led him to earn his first award in 1994. He has illustrated over 50 books since then. Chris Raschka has a unique perspective on his childhood which allows him to approach his books differently than other authors. He looks at himself more or less the same as he did when he was a child and this gives his books a a different feel. For Raschka to start a book he pulls events and thoughts not only from his everyday life but also from the past when he was a child. The way that he presents his book to others is also an interesting point to look at. He creates his book with a specific audience in mind which includes himself as a child and other children. When he presents the book he will often get someone else to read it to a group of children and have them take notes on how the children perceived it and what their reactions were.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Over fifty books were illustrated by Chris Raschka. Interestingly enough he not only illustrated children's books for other authors but then became illustrating his own books. Raschka's illustrating technique uses oil or crayon to visually amuse the audience/reader. He uses many different and vibrant colours to capture the reaction that he desires.

PLOT SUMMARY
A Ball for Daisy is a children's picture book that tells the story of a white dog named Daisy and her favourite ball. Daisy is so obsessed with the ball that he takes it everywhere with her, sleeps with it and overall has to be near it constantly. As the owner takes Daisy out for a walk one day, her ball gets snatched by a fellow, brown dog wanting to play. Daisy tried her hardest to get her ball back but the other dog insisted on playing with it. Although the other dog had no spiteful intentions he popped the ball by accident. During this devastating moment, Daisy became very disappointed. The owner threw the ball in the trash and took Daisy home. For the next while the Daisy acted depressed and lonely. Daisy's owner took her for another walk and on the walk they saw the same dog that popped Daisy's ball but this time that dog had a shiny new blue ball. The other dog gave the new, blue ball to Daisy, which made her very happy.

INNER MEANING
This book is a great book for teaching children the importance of friendship, sharing and basic manners. Since the dog broke the white dogs ball he replaced it with a new one to make the dog feel better. Simple life lessons are an important part of children as they grow up. This illustrated children's book is an interesting way to show the kids appropriate, respectful ways to act without outright saying it in words. It gives the child a different way of looking at it that can lead to the child believing that he thought of it himself.