Fiction Evaluation Form

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

Your Name: Lizeth Reyes Book Title: María Tenía Una Llamita
Author:Angela Dominguez Illustrator: Angela Dominguez

Genre: Multicultural, Translated Publisher/Year: Holt, 2013

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 this story was English and Spanish. The Spanish words matched the English
words, and it was simple words, such as, “tenia una llamita.” The rhythm was fast, and the sentence
lengths were short. “That was against the rules. Eso iba contra las reglas.” The first sentence would be
English and the next, translating to Spanish. An unexpected insight that that I noticed was that the
teacher of Maria and the ladies in the town wearing something on top of their head.
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 Maria. She is a little girl who has a llama as a friend. They relate can
relate to the story because this is the same version as the original, but this one adds a taste of
a different culture. Maria is Latina, and the illustrations show cultural appearances that
children can relate to or be interested.
1. PLOT: summarize the major events in the story-

Maria had a little lamb, and everywhere she went, the llama would go. The llama followed her to
school one day, and since that was against the rules, children were laughing. The teacher sent Maria’s
llama out. When Maria was done with school, the llama was waiting for her. They love each other.
2. SETTING – Explain the place and time of the book.
THEME- What is the story’s theme/message?

Setting: Peru, during a school day.

Theme: Love unconditional, friendship, and bilingual.
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 type of style Is cartoon art.
Media choices (paints, oils watercolors, pencil, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk ):
Crayons, pens, paints, and charcoal were used to draw the illustrations.
Give examples and describe how the following visual elements are used in the illustrations :
Line: The lines are a bit thicker and they are black. They are visible and can be able to tell.
Shapes: The shapes on the pages are sharp. Maria has a backpack on her back, and the picture frame is a square. The
shadow of the llama is visible.
Color: The colors are very bright using a warm hue. Red is Maria’s color. The llamita is white as snow, and the background is
a light pink.
Texture: The texture is smooth. The walls look straight and shiny, while maria’s flute is strong standing on top of her
backpack.

Explain how illustration and text are combined to tell the story. What do illustrations show that text does not
explain?
The text is stating the plot twice, once in English and once in Spanish, while the illustration is showing.
Illustrations show action to the text. It brings the story to life.
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?
In the two-page spread, the illustrations are covering the whole page. The text is in a bold font to
show it in the background. The text in this page is in a picture frame. There are no white nor dark
spaces in the pages. The border on the page does not disconnect the illustration.
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 to 7 years

Explain the cognitive development from the stage:

Language and development on vocabulary increases rapidly.
Give examples from the book show how the book fits the cognitive stage:
New words in Spanish can be developed by young readers. “Reglas, escuela, llamita”

Emotional DEVELOPMENT
Identify the Age: 3- 6 years
Explain the emotional development for the age:
Understanding causes, and consequences.
Using examples from the book, explain how the book fits the emotional development of the age:
Maria and llamita love each other, so llamita followed her to school, and waited for her outside
because she was not allowed in school.

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

Comments: (Support your overall rating)
The story was short and sweet, but it would have been better if the author added a small verse in
Spanish to sing. She could have added more events so children and readers see how their friendship
was. In Peru, llamas are important, but this book did not really show it. I liked the illustrations
because it was colorful and represented childhood.