I love how this book challenges the reader to go beyond the words of a story (or, in this case, word) and interpret what the author-illustrator is presenting. For me, this is a story of a dog who loves the little girl who plays with him. When she is gone he tries to find various ways to play "Ball". But nothing is quite the same until she returns home again. It's amazing how this one word can, with pictures to guide you, come to have several different meanings. - Brandi