Fiction Evaluation Form

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

Your Name: Karla Castro Book Title: Julian is a Mermaid

Author: Jessica Love Illustrator: Jessica Love

Genre: Fiction, Multicultural Picture Book Publisher/Year: April 23, 2018 by Candlewick Press

https://youtu.be/PHsixlARQPM

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 for each one:

Word choice: Word choice is very simple and easy to understand. There are also Spanish
words in this book such as “vamonos, abuela, and mijo”
Sentence length: Sentence length is very short and only about two sentences for each page.
Dialogue: There is dialogue between Julian and his grandma such as “Vamonos mijo, this is
our stop” “Abuela did you see the mermaids?”
Rhythm: The rhythm of this book is very fast paced and a quick read
Rhyme: There is no rhyme in this book
Insights/interesting information

CHARACTER – 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? Give examples of each from the book.

Main character: The main character of this book is Julian

Personality traits: Aspiring, dreamer, and artistic
How reader can relate to main character: The reader can relate to the story because there
are times where children can dream of becoming something
Supporting characters: Julian’s Abuela, the mermaids in the festival

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

 This story describes the young afro-Latino character names Julian. This story follows
Julian and his abuela, grandma, on a train going home. On the way home Julian sees
some festival performers that are dresses as mermaids. Julian begins to explain to his
 grandma that he is a mermaid too. At home while his grandma is taking a shower
Julian grabs items from around the house such as a blanket, large plant leaves, and
flowers. Julian’s abuela is surprised to see Julian dressing up as a mermaid but then
goes to get Julian a pearl necklace. She then takes Julian to the festival in which the
mermaid performers are participating in and Julian walk with the mermaids in the
festival.

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

THEME- What is the story’s theme or lesson?

Setting: On a subway train, at Julian’s home, and at the beach shore where the festival is
happening.
Theme: Personal expression, love, acceptance, and gender constructs.

ILLUSTRATION –Analyze the illustrations in the book (see Chapter 4 for details on the
categories below.) Choose a 2-page spread in the book to answer the following:
What Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)?
 This book uses cartoon art

Illustration and Text: explain how illustration and text combined to tell the story.
Then, explain what illustrations show that text does not explain?
 The illustrations and text combine to tell the story by having sentences every once in
a while to say dialogue, describe what Julian is doing or thinking. For the rest of the
pages they are just pictures and illustrations with no text. So it uses, illustrations to
tell the story.

Page design --Describe:

The Borders: There are no border on the pages, the illustrations extend to the edges.
Use of white/dark space: There are blank spaces in the pages where there is text, such as a
blank wall or floor
Text placemen: The text is placed on the blank spaces on the pages
Font size: Font size is relatively small as there are only 2 sentences per page. So this story
really focuses more on the illustrations.
Placement of illustrations: The illustrations are also placed in the middle of the pages in
order to put more focus on them.

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?)
PIAGET-COGNITIVE-INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Name the stage Preoperational Stage and the age 2-7 years old

Explain ONE cognitive development trait from the stage:

 Children become increasingly adept at using symbols and using an object to represent
something else
Give examples from the book show how the book fits that trait and cognitive stage:
 In this book, Julian is seen using a blanket as a mermaid tail, and leaves and flowers as
a crown

ERIKSON – PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Name the stage Industry vs. Inferiority and the age 6-11 years old

Explain ONE social development trait for this stage:

 According to Erikson, this stage is vital in developing self-confidence
Give examples from the book that support that social development trait and of this stage:
 In this stage it can be seen that his abuela supports his actions of dressing up as a
mermaid and even gives him pearls and takes him to the festival.