Fiction Evaluation Form

(Picture Books, Folklore, Modern Fantasy, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Books)

Your Name: Tatiana Rivera Book Title: I Love My Hair!

Author: Natasha Anastasia Tarpley Illustrator: E.B. Lewis

Genre: Multicultural Publisher/Year: Little, Brown Books for Young

Readers/19987

EVALUATE THE BOOK USING THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS

STYLE and Language: Using examples from the book, explain the following: word choices, dialogue,
rhythm, rhyme and sentence length. Also, explain unexpected insights or interesting information the reader
learns from the story. Give examples.
The word choices in the book appropriate for young readers and even introduces them to new
words that Kianna’s mom uses when she is brushing her hair. The dialogue between Kianna and her
mother is important because she tells Kianna that she is lucky for having the hair she does because
she can style it any way she wants to. There is no rhythm or rhyme. The sentence length
appropriate for young readers but efficiently explains what is happening on each page. An
unexpected insight would be how Kianna’s teacher explains that people used to wear their hair in
afros as a way to stand up for what they believed in.

CHARACTER – With examples from the book give the following: Who is the main character? Explain the
character’s personality traits.
How can the reader relate to the character, become involved in the story?
Who are the supporting characters?
The main character is Kianna who learns to love her hair. The reader can relate to the story
because they may have the same hair as Kianna, or it might be different, but they can
understand that it is okay to have different hair. The supporting characters are her mom
who tells Kianna that she has beautiful hair and her teacher who lets her know that having
different hair is okay as she had different hair growing up.

1. PLOT: summarize the major events in the story-

The plot of the story is that Kianna is not so sure about her hair growing up but through her mom
and her teacher she learns to love it because of the experiences they had and the positives to why
she should love her hair. She specifically loves how she can have her hair in many different styles
and even how her mom adds beads into her hair.

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

 THEME- What is the story’s theme/message?

Setting: The setting takes place in Kianna’s home and school.

Theme: The theme of the book is to love yourself for who you are.

ILLUSTRATION –Analyze the illustrations for the book you selected (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, naïve, cartoon art)?
The style of the book is expressionism.
Media choices (paints, oils watercolors, pencil, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk) :
The media choice is paint.
Give examples and describe how the following visual elements are used in the illustrations:
Line: There are a lot of horizontal lines that represent movement in the illustrations.
Shapes: The shapes in the book are circular which give the characters definition.
Color: The color in the book is not that bright however, I believe it makes the book appear more serious.
Texture: The texture is soft which gives more meaning to the story.

Explain how illustration and text are combined to tell the story. What do illustrations show that text does not
explain? The illustrations help tell the story by showing the different ways Kianna can have her hair as well as other
African Americans.

Page design: Summarize the following: placement of illustrations and text; the use of borders and white/dark space; are both
pages designed the same or differently?
The page designs are simple and follow the same story on two pages. The text is either at the
bottom, top or on the side.
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?)

PIAGET-COGNITIVE-INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Name the stage Preoperational______________ and the age 2-7____________________

Explain the cognitive development from the stage: In this stage the development is language and
concepts.

Give examples from the book show how the book fits the cognitive stage:
In the book Kianna talks about how her mom does her hair which can teach children the different
types of hair there are how and how proud one should be of who they are.

ERIKSON – PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Name the stage Initiative vs Guilt_____________ and the age Preschool________

Explain the social development for this stage: The development in this stage is learning how to
write, read and pretend play as well as developing initiative and guilt.

Give examples from the book that support the social development of this stage: The book supports
the social development by encouraging children to ask questions about why Kianna may have that
type of hair or why they have the type of hair that they do. The book can raise many questions for
children that do not yet understand what multicultural means.

Emotional DEVELOPMENT
Identify the Age __________________________________
Explain the emotional development for the age:

Using examples from the book, explain how the book fits the emotional development of the age:

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

Comments: (Support your overall rating)
I rate this book a 3 because it is a great example of multicultural background for African Americans
and is relatable for children in the class.