Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Jenna Trumble

Book Title: Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs
Author: Tomie dePaola
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Illustrator: Tomie dePaola
Publisher/Year: G.P. Putnam’s Sons/1973
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)
This book uses words that a four-year-old would understand when there is dialogue
between characters because Tommy in the story is four years old. When the story
does not have direct dialogue, it is still easy for a young audience to understand the
book and what is happening. The story starts off with introducing all of the
characters. When the reader finds out that Nana upstairs has died Tommy does not
understand what the word means, and the Mother tells him what it means. This is
good because now the reader has an understanding of what the word means even if
there isn’t someone to answer the question of what does “died” mean. The reader
also learns about loss in this book which is important for children to understand
because at some point in their life someone will die, and it is important to show that
it is normal to be sad and also celebrate their life.

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?

The main character in this story is Tommy. The reader can relate to the character by
being young themselves and having grandparents and the possible loss of
grandparents as well. The supporting characters are Nana upstairs and Nana
downstairs.
Plot: Summarize the major events of the story (6 points)
The story starts off with introducing all of the characters and their roles in Tommy’s
life. Tommy eventually becomes interested in Nana upstairs daily routine and he
eventually starts to spend more time with her. Tommy develops a closer relationship
with Nana upstairs. When Tommy goes out, he will come back to help Nana
downstairs help Nana upstairs. Tommy then learns one night that Nana upstairs has
died, and his mother helps him understand what that means. Tommy cries when he
goes to Nana downstairs house and sees Nana upstairs room empty. Tommy then
one night sees a shooting star and runs into his parents’ room where they tell him it’s
probably Nana upstairs giving you a kiss. Eventually his other Nana dies, and he sees
another falling star and reminds himself that it is probably her giving him a kiss.

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

Theme: What is the main message of this book? (2 points)

The book takes place in Tommy’s home and grandparents’ home. This book takes
place sometime before 1973 because the book was first released that year. The main
message of this book is about death and how even when someone dies, they don’t
leave your side. It’s good to have a memory of them cherish the time you spent with
them.

Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories
Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)? (2
points)
The art in this book is cartoon art because the faces of the characters are not fully
developed to be realism. The eyes are just black dots.

Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk):
(2 points)
The media choices are watercolors and colored pencils.
Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations: (3)
Line: The lines help create the setting the book is taking place in.
Shapes: The shapes help the characters have features to them.
Color: The colors help show the reader a picture of what the author was imagining or
remembering the home to look like.
Texture: The texture creates depth to the illustrations.
Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space and
all pages the same or different). (3)

The pictures do not take up the entire page which means that the reader can easily
read the story and then look at the pictures to help them understand what is going
on. The placement of illustrations moves around from page to page to keep the eyes
moving of the reader.

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

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: ________5 to 6 years old_________________
Explain the social development for this age and how the book relates
to the emotional level you chose:

By this age children are able to recognize and their own feelings. This book relates to
this age because in the book Tommy is learning about his emotions towards his Nana’s
and eventually verbalizes his feelings about them passing away.

1 would not recommend 2 average 3 highly recommended

Your rating of the book: ________3______

Why?
I think that this book allows children to understand what might be going on in their
peers’ homes, especially if someone dies. This book also allows for a conversation of
death to be talked about and this will help children learn that it is not a taboo topic.