Non c on Form (Biography and Informa on Books)

Your Name: Wendy Cooper Title: My Name is Gabriela

Author: Monica Brown Illustrator: John Parra
Publisher/Date: Cooper Square Publishing Genre: 2005

EVALUATE THE BOOK USING THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS

Explain how the cover and rst pages of the book a ract and hold the reader’s interest. Give 3examples from
the book

1. Bright colors/Exci ng Illustra ons

2. Children depicted in rst pages
3. Animals with non-realis c colors depicted
STYLE AND LANGUAGE – Explain how the book shares informa on with children. Examples: “li le-known
facts;” new vocab sprinkled in the text; and selec on of informa on to create/maintain reader’s interest. Give
3 examples from the book
1. Told in First Person
2. Uses a child’s view of pretend play
3. Childhood friendships
ACCURACY – up-to-date research, any sources or references provided, no mixing of fact and c on.
Explain: Gabriela lived 1889-1957, and her life, poe c works and career history seem consistent on a number
of sights such as nobelprize.org and poetryfounda on.org

INFORMATION –Explain how the book captures a child’s interest: unusual subjects or viewpoints -
personalized content – new perspec ves, rst-person accounts, and fascina ng comparisons.
Give 3 examples from the book.
1. The book describes what Gabriela imagined lay beyond the mountains around her village.
2. Gabriela describes how she played with her friends.
3. Gabriela describes how she liked words, and imagined what words would look like.
ILLUSTRATIONS-- Select a 2-Page Spread to evaluate the book with following:
Media (paints, pencils, pen, watercolors, charcoal, photographs, crayon, acrylics, chalk, oils): Explain the media choices used:
I would say paint, like oil or acrylic paint.
illustra on and text combine to share the informa on:
What does the text explain and how illustrated? The text is under, above and some mes woven through the text, invi ng the reader to
con nue through the story.
What do illustra ons show that text does not explain? The illustra ons express the imagina on of Gabriela. It also helps the reader to
realize the age of Gabriela as they read through the story.

Page design – Describe the following: use of borders; text placement and font size; use of informa on boxes, charts or
iden ca on of vocab use of white and dark space; types of illustra ons and placement on both pages: Boarders are u lized around the
text. The white space is also used to highlight the text, which is a medium size, easy to read.
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 Child Development Theories –Select 1 theory:

Iden fy the stage: Piaget. and age level: 2-7 from the theory.
Select one trait from the developmental stage/level. Begin to think of objects and people outside of their
immediate environment because of object permanence .

Explain and give 3 speci c examples from the book that t the development al stage/level.
1. Gabriela imagined what was beyond the mountains around her valley.
2. Gabriela imagined what words felt like, imagined what they looked like, not as words but as objects.
3. Gabriela thought up stories and poems.
1. OVERALL RATING 3 (3 high, 1 low) 1 2 3
Explain the ra ng: The book is easy to understand, and is short for short a en on spans. It may encourage
deeper inves ga on, as it tells just the basics, but may leave an older reader to ask more ques ons. Gabriela is
also an interes ng person, as she starts out as a simple child with an imagina on and ends up winner the
Nobel Prize for Literature.
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