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Stop that Ball!
Illus. in color. A boy's madcap adventures as he tries to retrieve his bouncing ball are told in "lively rhyming prose. Humorous, repetitious situations will delight children. Recommended."--School Library Journal.
62 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1959
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
March 15, 2023
A boy hits his ball off its string and chases it all through town. Narrowly averting disaster at manholes, construction sites, demolition areas, and big ol’ cannons, the boy never gives up on his seemingly endless pursuit of his red ball. Could this go on all day and night, you never know, it just might.
The illustrations are old school with a 4-colour print scheme. The rhymes and pacing of the story are a blast. It never feels like a long read despite its high page count.
This book was my absolute favourite as a kid, and I was beyond pumped when my mom bought a copy to give to my son. I wouldn’t say it is his #1 like mine but is in his upper tier of nightly requests. Which is acceptable, I guess…
The illustrations are old school with a 4-colour print scheme. The rhymes and pacing of the story are a blast. It never feels like a long read despite its high page count.
This book was my absolute favourite as a kid, and I was beyond pumped when my mom bought a copy to give to my son. I wouldn’t say it is his #1 like mine but is in his upper tier of nightly requests. Which is acceptable, I guess…
May 8, 2019
Another fav! Review coming soon!
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December 18, 2025Wanna read it for my future kids.
April 15, 2026
A delightfully silly adventure of a boy (nearly) endlessly chasing his ball throughout the town…
August 16, 2017
The art is done with four colors, white, black, red and green. The kids thought it was hilarious when the ball went in the tuba and was blown out. I remember thinking that as well. This was read to me and my brother growing up and I am interested to note how many scenes from this book were for typically boy type stuff. Fireman, trucks, builders, baseball. I never noticed as a kid. Very interesting. It's a good book, nothing fancy.
October 20, 2017
A beginner's reader adventure about a boy and his red tether ball.
October 25, 2020
This was a cute book. My son really enjoyed it.
Read for the first time in the year:
January 22, 2021
Read for the first time in the year:
January 22, 2021
May 25, 2026
A Confidently Incorrect Review, brought to you by Gilbert Waddington
Mike McClintock’s Buddhist allegorical tale, Stop that Ball!, is a penetrating examination of desire and how striving harms our innermost selves.
In the opening scene, we meet the narrator whose name is never revealed. This is a clear indication that the protagonist could be any of us, indeed is all of us. Simultaneously, we are left with the notion that the unnamed boy is also no one, a more subtle pointer to the eventual erasure of the ego and achievement of Nirvana by those who can overcome worldly attachment and craving.
We find the narrator engaged in a task that is immediately recognized as futile. He is striking the story’s eponymous ball while it is tied to a central pole. Each strike sends the ball out, only to see it rebounding again. We see the futility of the effort in the first lines of the story
It went around and then came back. I gave my ball another WHACK!
The boy continues in his work, increasing his efforts until he hits the ball so hard the string lets go.
At this point, we note that the world has changed and effort has led to a result other than its prior futility. It would seem that striving has paid off. In the background the smile on the enigmatic girl’s face—more on her later—shows that some positive step has been taken.
However, rather than progress, we find that—from the narrator's point of view—the situation has regressed to a dreadful state. The ball, the sole object of his striving and desire has been removed “out past the wall.”
The boy’s immediate aim is to retrieve the object of his desire.
We follow him and his “dog of mine” as they chase the ball down holes, across dangerous construction sites, nearly onto a hill set to be dynamited, over a burning house, through a baseball game (where the role of sport and entertainment as distractor from our lowly unenlightened state is driven home), to a bandstand, and finally into the mouth of a cannon.
Here we see the lengths to which the narrator is willing to subject himself to injury in his quest to obtain the object of his desire. As emphatically stated by the uniformed man who drags the boy away, the narrator is only moments from mortal death, and yet his only thought is to continue the striving which experience has already told him is futile.
Finally, we see the ball launched across the town, clearing at once all the prior obstacles it traversed.
When the narrator at last reaches his home, he finds the ball not only returned to his yard within the walls he earlier overcame, but even tied securely to the string from which it was originally launched. The enigmatic girl, a quiet fixture throughout the story’s background is seen here, smiling contentedly as the boy marvels at the object of his desire.
It is at this point that the reader is invited to consider that all of the narrator’s many efforts have in no way altered the course of events. The ball’s journey was, in all fundamental essences, independent of his actions and the result achieved is the same as would have been realized should he have stayed home. In this we see that, even the greatest of striving does not achieve its object, and is merely a manifestation of the false self that separates us from Nirvanna.
Only by quenching this desire can we be truly at peace.
Sadly, we see the narrator pick up his bat and resume the game that enflames his striving and distracts him from true bliss. In the final scene we see “the string let go” and the ball once more sail beyond the wall.
The reader is left with the haunting message:
Could this go on all day and night?
It could, you know, and it just might!
Words of warning. To those caught in the web of their own striven suffering, even extreme intervention is not enough to move them toward a state of enlightenment. If enlightenment is to come, the journey must begin within.
Mike McClintock’s Buddhist allegorical tale, Stop that Ball!, is a penetrating examination of desire and how striving harms our innermost selves.
In the opening scene, we meet the narrator whose name is never revealed. This is a clear indication that the protagonist could be any of us, indeed is all of us. Simultaneously, we are left with the notion that the unnamed boy is also no one, a more subtle pointer to the eventual erasure of the ego and achievement of Nirvana by those who can overcome worldly attachment and craving.
We find the narrator engaged in a task that is immediately recognized as futile. He is striking the story’s eponymous ball while it is tied to a central pole. Each strike sends the ball out, only to see it rebounding again. We see the futility of the effort in the first lines of the story
It went around and then came back. I gave my ball another WHACK!
The boy continues in his work, increasing his efforts until he hits the ball so hard the string lets go.
At this point, we note that the world has changed and effort has led to a result other than its prior futility. It would seem that striving has paid off. In the background the smile on the enigmatic girl’s face—more on her later—shows that some positive step has been taken.
However, rather than progress, we find that—from the narrator's point of view—the situation has regressed to a dreadful state. The ball, the sole object of his striving and desire has been removed “out past the wall.”
The boy’s immediate aim is to retrieve the object of his desire.
We follow him and his “dog of mine” as they chase the ball down holes, across dangerous construction sites, nearly onto a hill set to be dynamited, over a burning house, through a baseball game (where the role of sport and entertainment as distractor from our lowly unenlightened state is driven home), to a bandstand, and finally into the mouth of a cannon.
Here we see the lengths to which the narrator is willing to subject himself to injury in his quest to obtain the object of his desire. As emphatically stated by the uniformed man who drags the boy away, the narrator is only moments from mortal death, and yet his only thought is to continue the striving which experience has already told him is futile.
Finally, we see the ball launched across the town, clearing at once all the prior obstacles it traversed.
When the narrator at last reaches his home, he finds the ball not only returned to his yard within the walls he earlier overcame, but even tied securely to the string from which it was originally launched. The enigmatic girl, a quiet fixture throughout the story’s background is seen here, smiling contentedly as the boy marvels at the object of his desire.
It is at this point that the reader is invited to consider that all of the narrator’s many efforts have in no way altered the course of events. The ball’s journey was, in all fundamental essences, independent of his actions and the result achieved is the same as would have been realized should he have stayed home. In this we see that, even the greatest of striving does not achieve its object, and is merely a manifestation of the false self that separates us from Nirvanna.
Only by quenching this desire can we be truly at peace.
Sadly, we see the narrator pick up his bat and resume the game that enflames his striving and distracts him from true bliss. In the final scene we see “the string let go” and the ball once more sail beyond the wall.
The reader is left with the haunting message:
Could this go on all day and night?
It could, you know, and it just might!
Words of warning. To those caught in the web of their own striven suffering, even extreme intervention is not enough to move them toward a state of enlightenment. If enlightenment is to come, the journey must begin within.
February 27, 2018
I give this book a 4 star rating.
This book is about the ball that keeps bouncing around the town. It bounces thru construction, to the park, thru a tree and into a cannon. The ball keeps going and going till it finally stops. The boy had to chance the ball all day till he could finally stop it.
Ways to use in the classroom
1) A lesson about gravity
2) Writing prompt about a ball being on the loose.
3) Have the students as a class make the story up
This book is about the ball that keeps bouncing around the town. It bounces thru construction, to the park, thru a tree and into a cannon. The ball keeps going and going till it finally stops. The boy had to chance the ball all day till he could finally stop it.
Ways to use in the classroom
1) A lesson about gravity
2) Writing prompt about a ball being on the loose.
3) Have the students as a class make the story up
August 6, 2019
The ball that won't stop really won't.
As he's playing with his ball, the string snaps and his ball goes flying. He chases his precious red ball all over town and then some, his ball narrowly avoiding disaster many times. He finally gets it back home and on the pole with a new string. The first hit sends the ball flying again because the string back and the poor boy is back at it again.
Personally, I'd have either set that pole or fire or attached the ball with a chain, lol.
As he's playing with his ball, the string snaps and his ball goes flying. He chases his precious red ball all over town and then some, his ball narrowly avoiding disaster many times. He finally gets it back home and on the pole with a new string. The first hit sends the ball flying again because the string back and the poor boy is back at it again.
Personally, I'd have either set that pole or fire or attached the ball with a chain, lol.
August 17, 2018
What a joy to revisit this book from my childhood (it was published about 10 years before I was born). I may not have seen it since I was 6 or 7, but the cover image is burned in my memory. It rhymes like a Dr Seuss story but doesn’t have Seuss’s magical, mythical characters. Still, the best $6.86 I’ve spent in a long time.
March 13, 2021
A boy hits his ball so hard it goes flying out of his yard and he chases it all over town. A girl follows him on her bike, but he's oblivious to her. Told in rhyme. It's dated in its gender roles and lack of diversity, but nothing overtly offensive. Otherwise, entertaining.
December 10, 2017
A young boy plays a little too hard with his tether ball. It flies off and sends the boy, his dog, and a young girl (the boy never notices) on a wild adventure through town.
July 2, 2018
This silly story of what happens to a ball when it gets away from a little boy was a favorite of mine as a little girl and one I loved to read to my kids. I still have my original copy.
April 24, 2020
I really like this book and I love to read it everyday.by 4 year old.
January 18, 2021
A boy chases his ball which is being flung all around town in the strangest series of events.
May 30, 2021
Loved it as a little kid, still love it as a big kid.
January 4, 2023
Fun short read. Would recommend for kids to learn new rhyming words!
August 18, 2023
After a young boy hits his red ball out of his yard, he goes on a wild adventure to get it back.
June 9, 2025
We found a box of childhood books of mine in the garage and there were a handful I thought I’d read with Maddie (and sometimes Kait!) before passing along because I remembered these ones.
November 19, 2025
My under-3 daughter found it average.
June 25, 2020
Follow the ball wherever it goes...
January 27, 2009
Man o' man is this book super stressfull for me! My original copy I picked up at a bookmobile when I was 4. The guy driving the thing told me to bring it back in a couple of weeks on the same day of the week. My mom never took it back. Everytime I would look at the book I would think about how we had stolen it. Top that with a stressfull story of how a ball gets away from a kid and he has to chase it around town before he gets home to have it get away again (i never have liked thinking about infinite things or loops) and I was plenty freaked out. Ummm this one is right up there with "Are You My Mother"
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April 7, 2014Category: Beginning reader picture books
Author: Mike McClintock
Illustrator: Mike McClintock
Title: Stop that Ball!
Publication date: 1959
Brief annotation: A boy chases his ball all over town after he loses it.
Themes: Repetition, sequence of events, humor, prediction
Ways to use the book with children: Working on guessing sequence of events
Author: Mike McClintock
Illustrator: Mike McClintock
Title: Stop that Ball!
Publication date: 1959
Brief annotation: A boy chases his ball all over town after he loses it.
Themes: Repetition, sequence of events, humor, prediction
Ways to use the book with children: Working on guessing sequence of events
July 17, 2017
I immediately recognized the writer/illustrator team from another favorite book, "Tell Me Some More".
7/16/17 Read with Julia.
10/5/24 Read with Charlotte
12/5/25 Read with Charlotte
5/4/26 Read with Skylar
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5/19/26 Read with Skylar
7/10/26 Read with Skylar
8/26/26 Read with Skylar
7/16/17 Read with Julia.
10/5/24 Read with Charlotte
12/5/25 Read with Charlotte
5/4/26 Read with Skylar
5/14/26 Read with Skylar
5/19/26 Read with Skylar
7/10/26 Read with Skylar
8/26/26 Read with Skylar
April 1, 2010
This is my favorite book from my childhood. I got it for Carley and we read it every single night for months.
It's out of print and when you can find it, it's very expensive. But I found a "cheap" one and got it for her (or was it for me?)
It's out of print and when you can find it, it's very expensive. But I found a "cheap" one and got it for her (or was it for me?)
January 5, 2011
E-man's FAVORITE for 2010. This book is out of print and the copy we have is falling apart. The story is fun, fast moving, and rhyming, with a cute twist at the end. Our 3 year old nearly has it memorized... no wonder, since we've read it so many time.
December 11, 2013
I adored this story of the ping-pong path of a red rubber ball through town when I was a kid. I can never get over the ball in the French horn! My six year old is now reading it with me from time to time, and he enjoys watching the exploits of that runaway ball too.
February 5, 2017
One of my reading challenges this year is to read a book I loved as a child. I remember my grandmother reading this book to me and then later I remember reading it to her.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews