Fiction Evaluation Form

(Picture Books, Folklore, Modern Fantasy, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction,
Multicultural Books)
Your Name Aashene Adams Book Title The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Author: Beatrix Potter Illustrator:
Michael Hague

Genre: Fantasy Publisher/Year: Sea star

Books 2001

EVALUATE THE BOOK USING THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS

STYLE and Language: Explain the language used word choices, sentence
length, dialogue, rhythm, rhyme.
Explain unexpected insights or interesting information the reader learns from
the story. Give examples form the book

The word choices are simple English. The sentences are one to two sentences
long on each page. The sentences do not rhyme and there are no songs in the
text. The dialogue is between the animals. Mr. McGregor does speak to the Peter
Rabbit but Peter does not speak back and cannot speak back to Mr. McGregor. The
reader learns that Peter Rabbit is naughty and this not the first time the little
rabbit has gotten himself into trouble where he has lost his new jacket. His
mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It
was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight!

CHARACTER Who is the main character? Explain the characters personality

traits. How can the reader relate to the character, become involved in the
story?
Who are the supporting characters? Give examples of both.

The main character is Peter Rabbit- naughty, curious, not good with remembering,
gets into trouble often. The reader may relate to Peter because there may have
been a time when a reader was asked not to do something and they did it anyway
causing them to get into trouble or maybe even hurt.
The supporting characters are Mr. McGregor- the farmer whos garden Peter gets
lost in and cannot find his way out. Old Mrs. Rabbit-Peters mother who warns him
to stay out of Mr. McGregors garden. Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail- Peters
sisters who stay out of trouble and do as they are told.

1. PLOT: (Explains the major events in the story.) Summarize the plot

A mother goes off to the store and tells her children not to go into the neighbors
yard before she leaves. The male rabbit immediately goes to the neighbors
garden and starts snacking on berries. Mr. McGregor the gardener sees the little
rabbit and tries to catch him. The rabbit hides but struggles to find the fence that
he crawled under. Other animals in the garden encourage Peter the rabbit not to
give up and he attempts to get away leaving behind his new jacket, a hat and a
pair of shoes. When Peter gets home he is scared sick and tired. His family enjoys
a wonderful dinner while Peter is sick in bed for the rest of the evening.

2. SETTING Explain the place and time of the book.

THEME- What is the storys theme or lesson?
Setting: The setting takes place in Peters home which is a sand-bank underneath
the roof of a very big fir tree and Mr. McGregors garden
Theme: The theme of the book is to follow directions or you could get into trouble
that you may not be able to get out of.

ILLUSTRATION Analyze the illustrations in the book (see Chapter 4) with the
categories below: Choose a 2-page spread in the book to answer the following:
What Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, nave, cartoon art)?
(Page 5& 6)
The illustrations are surrealism in this story. The drawings are of real animals and
people but with a dreamlike or cartoon like finish on it
Media (paints, oils watercolors, pencil, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk) :
Watercolors and colored pencil were used for all of the illustrations in the book

Visual elements:
Line: Medium and thin lines painted with water colors were used to outline the garden in
Mr. McGregors yard. Lines are used for trees in the garden and for high grass and plants
Shapes thin long rectangles are used on page 6 for trees and a rake on page 5 in Mr.
McGregors hand.
Color a pop of red is used for a wheel barrow on page 5. A pop of pink are used for a rose
bush on page 5. Lots of tans and browns are used for dirt or soil in the garden at the
bottom of the page. Sky blues and light blues are used for windows and the sky in the
background. Lots of green to that outlines the garden making the garden seem very big
in the illustration.

Texture
The texture is not smooth but it seems like the colors kind of all blend together.
The greens blend together from dark to light and there are quick wispy
movements of the paint brush leaving the grass and bushes to mesh into one
another in the illustration.

Explain how illustration and text are combined to tell the story. What do
illustrations show that text does not explain?
The illustration and text are combined because they illustrations show Flopsy, Mopsy and
Cotton-tail
The illustrations show that the rabbits live in a very vegetated area with lots of bushes
trees and green grass. The illustrations show that there are actually other animals who
live and wear clothes other than the rabbits.
Describe the Page design: the borders, use of white/dark space, text placement & size, font,
placement of illustrations:

The use of white is distributed at the bottom of the page so the text can be visual
to the reader. There are pops of white on page 5 for shadowing Mr. McGregors
shirt. White is also used on page 6 for a row in the garden that could be inions or
flowers.

3. CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES CHOOSE 2 of theories below and

evaluate the book according to the developmental theories. (How the book fits
the developmental stage and age?)

ERIKSON PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Name the stage: Reasoning skills include 2 way thinking (more than one
point of view)
School Age

Explain the social development for this stage:

Give examples from the book that support the social development of this
stage:
Peters mother warns him and his sisters about what happened to his
father when he went over to Mr. McGregors garden. Peter still makes his
own decision to slide under the fence into Mr. McGregors even though
his mother has already told him he could get seriously hurt.

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Identify the Age 3 to 6

Explain the emotional development at this age:

Language improvement, behavior and cognitive strategies help create emotional
self- regulation

Give examples from the book to illustrate the emotional development of

this age:

A cat was staring at some gold-fish; she sat very, very still but now and then the
tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive. Peter thought it best to go away without
speaking to her; he had heard about cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Bunny.
Peter made his own decision about speaking to the cat to keep out of harms way.

4. Overall Rating of the book (3 highest - 1 lowest) 1 2 3

Comments: (Support your overall rating) The story has a good lesson on how
to always follow directions and do as you are told so that you dont get into
trouble. I found the story to be ok, not very impressed. The story is timeless but it
still gives me an outdated vibe.