On the Ball

This sparsely worded book tells the story of Owen, a kid who is not so great at playing sports. He takes his eye off the ball and it sails away--his imagination runs wild as he imagines tracking it through the jungle like a tiger, or flying through the sky like a bird. An excellent read to talk about imagination, how pictures can influence a story, or how a small event can be the topic of a whole book!

REVIEW:
Owen is a soccer player, and one day during his game, the ball is kicked off the field, way off into the distance. Owen runs after the ball, following wherever it went. The ball floats across a river, rolls through bushes, and flies through the air, until Owen brings it back to the game. I really like how the illustrations add meaning to the text. As Owen chases the ball through a river, the illustrations show Owen morphing into a fish swimming through the river. When Owen chases the ball through the bushes, the illustrations show that Owen morphs into a tiger running through a forest. As the ball flies through the air, the illustrations show Owen morphing into a bird flying through the air. The illustrations add another show more dimension to the story, making it more than a boy chasing after a ball.

GENRE: Fantasy Children's Picture Book

MEDIA: watercolor

USES:
(1) The illustrations show Owen morphing into a fish, tiger, and a bird, introducing the idea of a simile/metaphor, without using those literary devices. This book could introduce these literary devices, showing that Owen is running fast like a tiger, or flying high like a bird.
(2) Students could create their own smilies/metaphors after a lesson is taught.
(3) A theme in this book is imagination. Owen isn't really a tiger or a fish, but he uses his imagination to transform himself into that animal. Students could discuss the power of imagination and how they can use their imagination into the genre of fantasy. The class could also discuss what makes a fantasy book.
(4) This book could be used to teach an essential literacy strategy mini-lesson about looking at pictures to help comprehension. show less

This book tells the story of a little boy who was playing soccer one day, but then took his eye off the ball. The ball then escapes, floating away on an adventure until the boy finally catches it again.