Fic on Evalua on Form

(Picture Books, Folklore, Modern Fantasy, Contemporary Realis c Fic on, Historical Fic on, Mul cultural Books)

Your Name Wendy Cooper Book Title: Marvelous Cornelius, Hurricane

Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans
Author: Phil Bildner Illustrator: John Parra,

Genre: Historical Fic on Publisher/Year: Chronicle Books/2015

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 interes ng informa on the reader learns from the story. Give examples form
the book for each one:

Word choice: Conversa onal, slang

Sentence length: Short in length
Dialogue: Catchy and the nature sound like New Orleans
Rhythm: The story has a sing-song quality,
Rhyme: Though sing-song quality, it does not rhyme
Insights/interes ng informa on Use as Social/Emo onal
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 suppor ng characters? Give examples of each from the book.

Main character: Marvelous Corneius

Personality traits: A singing, dancing, community minded trash collector.
How reader can relate to main character: Because he sings and dances with the trash cans and trash bags.
Suppor ng characters: The Community

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

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 This is a story about a man named Marvelous Cornelius and the Spirit that makes a community a
community. Marvelous Cornelius was a trash collector in the French Quarter in New Orleans during
hurricane Katrina. He was a staple in the community, he knew everyone and everyone knew him. He
enjoyed his work, and made it enjoyable by “dancing” with the trash bags and cans. He was
saddened by the damage from hurricane Katrina. Instead of losing hope, he chose to do something.
He went out as he always did and cleaned up trash. Kids saw him and began to help. Then others in
the community joined in, to clean up the devasta on that was le a er the waters receded. And the
City rose up once again.

2. SETTING –
THEME-
Se ng: The Streets of the French Quarter, New Orleans. Pre and Post Hurricane Katrina
Theme: Community Spirit

ILLUSTRATION –Analyze the illustra ons 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)?
Illustra on and Text: explain how illustra on and text combined to tell the story.
Then, explain what illustra ons show that text does not explain?
The Illustra ons were almost a cross between realism and cartoon. The text was placed in and around the illustra ons,
except when a point was made. Then the text was all on its own page. The illustra ons show a happy man in the middle of
a happy community.

Page design --Describe:

The Borders
Use of white/dark space: Bright Colors throughout, but when Katrina hits, there is lots of blues and grays
Text placemen: in light areas of the illustra on
Font size: Not too large, but easy to read. The text is secondary to the illustra ons.
Placement of illustra ons: The illustra on run throughout the en re book, and are bright and want to be seen rst

3. CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES – CHOOSE 2 of theories below and evaluate the book according to the
developmental theories. (How the book ts the developmental stage and age?)
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 PIAGET-COGNITIVE-INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Name the stage: Pre-Opera onal and the age: 2-7

Explain ONE cogni ve development trait from the stage: Rapid development of concepts (friend,
death, birth, good/bad sharing, etc.).

Give examples from the book show how the book ts that trait and cogni ve stage: The concept
that one’s community can be damaged, but that it can be rebuilt again.

ERIKSON – PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Name the stage: Industry VS Inferiority

Explain ONE social development trait for this stage: Children develop a sense of industry when they:
• have opportuni es to develop skills and learn informa on,
• complete tasks successfully, persevere and receive praise
• Work in mul -ability groups with their peers working together

Give examples from the book that support that social development trait and of this stage: The
community, including the children, put in hard work to see their community open up again.

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Iden fy the Age 5/6
Explain ONE emo onal development trait for this age:

Give examples from the book to illustrate that emo onal development trait and this age:
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