Book Descriptions
for Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Three beach-goers interrupt a game of catch to build a sand castle on a busy sandy stretch. Two individuals are African-American, one being toddler-sized. The third person involved is a white female. Their ages and roles are as open to interpretation as the rest of the events in this stunning book bearing large ideas and few words: "Catch ... Throw ... Uh-oh ..." Although the people in the book don't notice, young readers will see the big yellow ball as it is carried away on the tide and begins a long journey out to sea. Bang's dazzling full-color pastel paintings tell most of the story as they trace the progress of the ball, over dolphins and under sea gulls, beyond a bridge and through a night storm, before being washed ashore on a different beach and into the open arms of another brown-skinned child. (Ages 1-3)
CCBC Choices 1991. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1991. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
Catch. Throw. Uh-oh. The yellow ball is forgotten at the edge of the water. Little by little, so no one notices, the ball floats out to sea. All alone, it travels above the fish and below the gulls, and drifts into a storm. Tossed by waves all through the night, it sails ashore next day to a hug and a home. Molly Bang's luminous pastels and gentle, rhythmic text tell a story that is both exciting and reassuring. Together, pictures and text are at once a lyrical adventure and an invitation to beach lovers and ocean gazers to journey far from shore and explore the wide-open sea. This well-loved classic returns in a 25th Anniversary Edition which will continue to delight children for another twenty-five years.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.