Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Karla Carballo

Book Title: Because of Winn-Dixie
Author: DiCamillo, Kate
Genre: Children’s LiteratureSchool and Family Novel
Illustrator: E.B. Lewis
Publisher: Candlewick Press/2000
Evaluate the Book for the following elements
Style and Language: Using examples for the book, explain the following: Word
choices, dialogue, rhythm, rhyme and sentence length. Share unexpected insights
or interesting information the reader learns from this story. (5 points)
Language reveals character, personality and feelings. Opal according to the story
add clarity and power in the expressions and emotions. When Opal was cleaning
Winn-Dixie she was talking to him all the time.
“The whole time I was working on him, I was talking to him. And he listened. I told
him how we were alike. “See.” I said, “you don’t have any family and neither do I.
I’ve got the preacher, of course. But I don’t’ have a mama. I mean I have one, but I
don’t know where she is.”

Character: With examples from the book, provide the following- (5 points)
Who is the main character?
How can the reader relate to the character?
Who are the supporting characters?

India Opal Buloni and Winn-Dixie. The reader can relate to Opal because in the
story Opal needed love and felt like someone needs her. Opal was so small when
her mother left her begin because her mother was an alcoholic. When she found
the dog at the super-market she called her and take it home. Supporting characters
her father the preacher and opal’s mom. The librarian Miss Franny, Gloria Dump,
Pet store Otis and the bully patrol.

Plot: Summarize the major events of the story (6 points)

Opal is 10 years old, living with her father the preacher and left begin for her
mother when she was small. Opal and her father were living in Watley and moved
to Naomi, Florida. After she keep Winn-Dixie, she has a lot friends and she socialize
with people in the town, she also aches for the loss of her mother.

Setting: Explain the place and time of this book. (2 points)

Theme: What is the main message of this book? (2 points)
This is a small town of Naomi, Florida. Trailer Park, Church, Pet store, Library, and
Gloria Dump’s. Probably at the end of 1990’s the story was publisher in 2000.
Friendship, love and happiness. Opal learn that her mother take their own
decisions and she can not judge her.

Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories
Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)? (2
points) Realism is just a cover of the book everything else in the imagination of the
reader

Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic,
chalk): (2 points) Chapter book, pencils and acrylics.

Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations: (3)
Line:
Shapes:
Color:
Texture:
Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space
and all pages the same or different). (3)
All the pages are the same bold letters. Chapter book. No illustration inside.
Child Development Theory: Choose either Piaget, Erickson or Social Emotional to
describe the connection to the book Chose 1 only (5 points)
Piaget:
Name the stage Concrete Operational Stage and the age 7 to 11 years old
Explain the cognitive development from this stage and provide an example from the
book to support your choice: Considered the Concrete Stage a major turning point in
the child’s cognitive development, because it marks the beginning of logical or
operational thought. The child is now mature enough to use logical thought.

Erickson:
Name the stage_____________________ and the age_______________________
Explain the cognitive development from this stage and provide an example from the
book to support your choice:

Emotional Development:
Identify the age: _________________________
Explain the social development for this age and how the book relates
to the emotional level you chose:

1 would not recommend 2 average 3 highly recommended

Your rating of the book: 3 Highly Recommended

Why?
Because this is caring, friendship book. Can teach children to have compassion for
others.