Ball by Mary Sullivan

Sullivan, M. (2013). Ball. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


Ball is the story of a ball-obsessed dog that very energetically tries to get others to play with him while his owner is away at school. The personality of the dog really shines through even though there are no words other than ball. He seems like a fun, good-natured, and excitable pet! The only word used in the book is the word ball which would make this book very easy for beginning readers to read. A teacher could use this book to focus on the story by “reading” the pictures which would be ideal for new readers or English Language Learners. Even though this book won the Geisel Award for beginning readers, the book could easily be used in grades 2-4 for inferencing. Students could use the pictures to infer character traits and feelings and future events. Even though this book is rather simplistic given the one word repetition throughout I think it would be enjoyable for young students. The illustrations are expressive and engaging. Overall, I liked Ball although it probably would not be on the list of my favorite picture books.

(Photo from www.amazon.com)