Sasha's mom gives her a bright yellow ball to play with on a rainy day. It bounces through the door in the mantel clock's shadow and over a bridge of butterflies, and Sasha follows. Sasha then finds a farmer had planted her ball in hopes that it might grow "flowers gold as finch's wings . . . a golden hen . . . and starlight-covered jelly beans." Sasha finds all manner of hidden "things worn or wished on, old or lost." The farmer, who is the King of Keys, eventually gives her back her yellow ball, and she finds herself back in her own living room. Her house may be "small and plain," but a hundred pencils writing on sheets of gold could not hold "the strange adventures / shadows hide." Scholastic Book Wizard has identified this as a K-2 level story, but I would have to disagree. This story is incredibly mature for it's children's literature mask, and I believe third to seventh graders would enjoy this more than a young child. While the illustrations do allow for a childish charm, the content of the story is definitely hard to understand at such a young age because of the poetic depth that the author has included. I would not want to introduce this as poetry at a young age as well because children may feel discouraged from the start and feel that they will never understand poetry if it's all like this. Speaking of the illustrations, I believe that this book should have won a Caldecott or been a Caldecott honor. The art is incredible and majestic. I believe that is what has always drawn me to this book despite still having confusion about the story. I am giving this story a 3/5. While the poetry and cadence of the story is beautiful, as well as the illustrations, I feel that this would be too confusing at a young age and I would refrain from using this in my classroom until the higher grades. ( )

Felt like it was trying waaaay to hard to be mystical and endearing. ( )

modern fantasy, beautiful illustrations, tale of lost things, award winning author and illustrator
Ways to use this book:
*great examples of figurative language and literary tools like rhyme and rhythm
*writing prompt to explain everyday things ( )

A young girl finds adventure and lost items as she follows a yellow ball on its imaginative path throughout her home.

The book would be a great addition to a discussion about imagination and interpretation. ( )

This document is about a young girl whose mother gives to her, on a grey, wet day, a yellow ball with which to play. Her home is small, but she loses the ball in the shadows. To find it, she goes over the Bridge of Butterflies, across the Field of Lesser Beasts and to the place where all lost things are found, where she meets the King of Keys who returns to her the lost ball. The story is told in a thought-provoking lyrical verse amplified by detailed and fantastical full-page illustrations.

This work would primarily be used for reading for pleasure. Although it is a children’s book marketed for Kindergarten – Grade 3, its content and style are also geared towards a more mature reader.