Review Title: Compassionate Story (Review of The Old Basketball by Gail Box Ingram)

Reviewer: Janice S. Garey

***** 5 Stars

What a delightful picture book for parents to share with their children or for young readers to enjoy on their own. The story is told from the point of view of an old deflated and tossed aside basketball. No one would want to play with such a worn out and trashed ball. But, one boy’s junk is another boy’s treasure. So this old basketball finds itself chosen by a young boy to revive it back to usefulness and fun.

This book, based on a true story, captures the essence of compassion and looking beyond flaws to see the good in things passed over for newer and more outwardly appealing objects.

The Old Basketball will be an excellent tool for parents and teachers to use in discussions about how to see the good and positive in life. Also, it offers a lesson in recycling found objects.

As a former preschool teacher, I wish I could have had this book to share with the class. It would have been fun to read it and then engage in games with a basketball or in crafts such as making paper mache basketballs.

The book includes a teaching guide with questions to foster discussion. A glossary helps reinforce the learning of new words. This book will play a part in helping young children understand the concepts of compassion and empathy. It has the potential to send those young children who are on track to become bullies in a much better direction.