Name of Book:  Come On! Play Ball!

Author:  Ilse-Margret Vogel

Illustrator:  Isle-Margret Vogel

Publisher: Western Publishing Company, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0307168245

Audience:  Ages 3-7

Summary:  This is a short story about two dogs playing with a ball, losing it, and searching for it until they find it.

Literary elements at work in the story: This story has rhyming patterns throughout. There are minimal words, but the rhyming brings you right along with the story. It is easy to pick up on the progression of the rhyming. This makes it an ideal book for beginning readers and younger ones that like to be read to. This is also an adventure story that begins in the hallway of an apartment building, through many other outside areas, and even up in a hot air balloon. The adventure moves along swiftly and makes it an enjoyable easy read. The ending of the book wraps up the adventure with a found ball, plenty of friends, and a sense of achievement.

(How) does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  The two dogs are male playing with a ball. This story would probably appeal more to other male children who enjoy sports. It is implied that the boy dog lives in an apartment and the older male dog is a friend. Whatever the relationship it is obvious they enjoy each other’s company and the adventure they go on.

Theological conversation partners:  Luke 15:1-10. This section in Luke 15 tells the story of the lost sheep and lost coin. In both stories something is lost and someone goes out to find it. In the parable of the lost sheep the shepherd loses one sheep and goes out to find it amidst danger and peril. He finds the sheep and the entire community rejoices. In the lost coin parable a woman loses one of her ten silver coins and turns the house upside down to find it. Both of these stories point to God who seeks us without stopping. In the story of the two friends with the ball, they go out to search for their lost ball until they find it. God’s love is the same way. God will never forsake us and will never stop searching for us when we feel lost or disconnected from our creator.

Faith Talk Question:

1. What places did the dogs go to search for the ball?
2. Have you ever played hide and seek?  How do you play that game?
3. How did you feel when you were found?
4. When was a time you lost something that you really loved, like a toy?
5. Losing something is scary, especially when it’s something you dearly love. Sometimes we don’t find the things we lose, but we should know that God will never stop searching for us because God loves us. How do you know God loves you?
6. When do you feel close to God?
7. When do you feel far away from God?

Come On! Play Ball! by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.