Fiction Evaluation Form

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

Your Name: Karla Castro Book Title: Feel the Beat

Author: Marilyn Singer Illustrator: Kristi Valiant

Genre: Poetry Publisher/Year: 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnkVDx7Or1U

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: These poems contain very simple and easy to follow words. They also use lots of verbs and action
words to describe the dances.
Sentence length: Each poem is medium length. Around 8-10 sentences
Dialogue: Not much dialogue between characters. It is only a child describing each dance that they are dancing
to.
Rhythm: It has a very musical rhythm to each poem that describes the type of music
Rhyme: There is a lot of rhyming in these poems. (“Got a partner, lost my shoe. Step to the left? I haven’t a clue.
Somebody tell me what to do. I don’t know how to square dance!”)
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: n/a – there is a different child dancing in each poem.

Personality traits: There are different personality traits for the children that are dancing. Some children feel
energetic and happy to do the dances, others are more hesitant to do them such as square dancing.
How reader can relate to main character: The reader can relate to the characters that dance because they too
can feel energetic to dance to music, while other may feel shyer and more hesitant to dance.
Supporting characters: n/a

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

 The plot of the story is showing and describing what it is like to dance different dances from
around the world. Dances include salsa, square dance, hip-hop, tango, and much more.
2. SETTING – Explain the place and time of the book.
THEME- What is the story’s theme or lesson?

Setting: There are many settings, all depending on the dance. There is a ball room for foxtrot dancing,
a Hispanic party for cha-cha, a school gymnasium for square dance.
Theme: Social Belonging

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)?
 Realism art style
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 because the illustrations vividly show what
type of dance it is describing in the poem.
Page design --Describe:
The Borders: There are no borders on the pages, the illustrations extend to the ends of the pages.
Use of white/dark space: There are some black spaces in the illustrations where the poem goes.
Text placemen: Text is usually place on the far left or right of the page or along the bottom of the page
Font size: Font Size can be described as rather small. Poem cannot be seen from a reading circle for example.
Placement of illustrations: The illustrations take up the whole page. The main focus of the illustrations (the dancing) is more otward the
middle of the pages.

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 concrete operational stage and the age 7-11 years old

Explain ONE cognitive development trait from the stage:

 During this stage children begin to think more logical and organized.

Give examples from the book show how the book fits that trait and cognitive stage:
 In this book children use the more logical and organized thinking when they are learning and
remembering the steps of dances.

ERIKSON – PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

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

Explain ONE social development trait for this stage:

 As Erikson explains, in this stage social interactions begin to increase because of school and
children begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments

Give examples from the book that support that social development trait and of this stage:
 Children in this book at time feel accomplished when they finished a certain dance or learn a
new dance. Along with that there are children that are dancing in school (square dance) and
this can tie into Erikson’s stage because of the increased social interation because of school.