Yellow Ball

by Molly Bang

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.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Juvenile, Fiction, Pre K

Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

Reviews

[Patience · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great read aloud for infants or those with SHORT attention spans. Colorful illustrations done in pastels, I believe.

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has beautiful watercolor illustrations and simple text. I can see this working on all sorts of reading levels. My almost-6-month-old will stare at the pictures for quite a while when I leave this opened for him on his playmat. I can see an older baby enjoying looking for the yellow ball on each page (sometimes it's tiny and almost hidden). This would also be good for a very early reader since there are just a few simple words to the story.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

via K.T. Horning: 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 child. Perspectives change but the bright yellow ball is always visible, even when it’s just a dot on the dark blue ocean.

[Lana Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow the journey of a bright yellow ball in a picture book for emergent readers. The book helps explain positional vocabulary of an object ( above, below, behind) and also introduces how forces of nature as the ball gets washed out to shore. With rhythm and rhyme, the ball finds a new home in the arms of another child. I would hold this book high in Pre-K classrooms.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty cool book that approaches perspective in a very simple way. There are a lot of interesting pictures in here, such as the one where the ball seems to echo the moon after spending all day yellow (it's even in the title!). There's not much of a story, though there is one, and it includes a nice little ending. Overall, it's a great book.

[Charles Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Although there wasn't much of a story, I thought it was neat that the ball takes a big journey through the ocean and then comes back to the child at the end. I also though the illustrations were really cool and reflected the mood of the story.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of Patrick's favorite books when he was very little! We still have it!

[J]

Simple picture books with one word or phrase per page. Beautiful, bright paintings. 15-mo-old winner.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simple words. My two year old liked trying to track the ball each page but I don't think it put together super well.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun concept book about perspective. Bright pictures, straightforward text.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic with beautiful illustrations.

[Marlisa Leechelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade K- 1
This is an Illustration book for sure because it has one to two words on every page. I think Molly's book can be a read aloud to kids but only a few. The colors and contrast are very strong. The details are not sharp on the objects. Instead they have a colored in texture. We follow this yellow ball on the journey through the sea and the kids get to learn placement description like: above and low. The views gets a since of danger with dark and sharpen waves, Also there's a lot of depth in the balls journey. I'm also glad a new journey for the ball ends the book. I took away that, there's always something next even though life could be big scary and confusing at times.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for introducing sequencing and cause and effect to very small children. The yellow ball is set aside on the shoreline and takes a grand adventure until it ultimately finds a new home. There are very few words and instead allows for an interactive discussion between reader and child.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 3 out of 5]

A yellow beach ball gets lost at sea, only to find a new child who will finally enjoy it. Sparse text, beautiful text. Elliot listened once but didn’t request it again. Probably would have enjoyed it when he was younger.

Read-aloud recommendation: toddlers

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What you can do with a ball, and also about relative positions/sizes. Very few words here, but not wordless. (Though it would be interesting to go through this book without the text!)

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story in very few words of a yellow ball that gets carried out to sea before making its way home to the child who owns it.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful watercolor pictures and makes me miss the beach! Two year old loves it!

[Erin Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I ever read by myself as a kid :)

[Catherine Petrini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations and sparse text tell the story of a yellow ball that is forgotten on the beach and swept out to sea.

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple story with BEAUTIFUL artwork, feely aimed more toward newborns as most pages only have a word or two. Didn't catch my toddler's eye, but I liked it.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

diverse characters; story about a ball going on a journey

[Farah Taha]

This book's appropriate audience are ages 1-3. This book is about three beachgoers playing with a big yellow ball. I chose this book because of the emphasis of the journey of the ball. is carried away on the tide to begin a long journey out to sea. Students are asked to trace the progress of the ball, "over" dolphins and "under" sea gulls, "beyond" a bridge and through a night storm. Children are able to practice their visual processing skills due to retaining information using visual images of the yellow ball. Students will understand the movement of the ball.