In A Ball for Daisy, a new wordless picture book by Chris Raschka (Yo! Yes?), the protagonist—a playful young dog named Daisy—deals with something little kids will identify with—the unexpected loss of a treasured toy. Here, it’s a bright red ball. It’s clear that Daisy is deeply attached to her ball. We see the white, black-eared pup roughhousing with it, cuddling with it, and going on walks with it. In one subtle scene, we see Daisy become nervous when the ball lands behind a fence during a game of throw-and-fetch. The relief on her cuddly canine face when her owner retrieves the ball says it all: She can’t bear to be parted from her beloved toy.

Then the unexpected happens. During a walk, Daisy encounters a mischievous brown dog who runs off with the ball. There’s a scuffle and the ball pops. Without words (just the marvelous blend of ink, watercolor and gouache), Raschka’s masterful wiggly lines depict a series of complex emotions on the poor doggy’s face: the disbelief, puzzlement, shock, denial, sadness, and despair. Dejected, Daisy returns home and her owner tries to console the dog. (Until now, we only saw the owner’s legs, but now we can see that Daisy’s owner is a young girl.) The next day, Daisy and her owner go walking in the park again. They meet the same brown dog and her owner, another little girl, who has a present for Daisy: a new blue ball. Daisy and the brown dog have a great time playing with the new ball. At the end of the day (and book), we leave Daisy knowing that she’s rebounded from her loss and made a new friend.

I love the fact that this simple yet subtle picture book explores the issue of loss from a perspective preschoolers will embrace and get right away. It’s about losing something you hold dear—what little kid hasn’t lost or broken a favorite toy? But it’s not heavy and depressing. In fact, the ending exudes resilience and optimism: Tomorrow is another day…you never know what happy surprises await.

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Are you familiar with books written and/or illustrated by Chris Raschka? Which have you read and would recommend?