Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Alicia Alvarado

Book Title: Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
Author: Paul Fleischman
Genre: Poetry
Illustrator: Eric Beddows
Publisher/Year: Harper Trophy/1988
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)
Word Choices: This book utilizes both precise vocabulary and figurative language. In
Fireflies, our narrators state that they are "Fine artists in flight, bright brush strokes
signing the June nights as if they were paintings." This is a flowery description of how
a fireflies light appears against a dark sky. In the opening lines of Grasshoppers it
states "Saps rising. Grasshoppers are hatching out Autumn-laid eggs. Young stepping.
Ground's warming." This is a much more straightforward account of grasshoppers
being born during a warm season.

Dialogue:This series of poems is told almost exclusively through the first person
perspective of different insects. In Honeybees the narrator laments "Then, weary, I
strive to patch up any cracks in the hive." In Mayflies the narrators detail "We're
mayflies, swarming, swerving, rising high" as they describe their short lifespan.

Rhythm: This book has a very interesting yet well blended rhythm. Each thought is
spaced in such a way that it gives a different personality to the different narrators. In
Water Striders each stanza is a few lines, space, a few lines, and more space. The
tone of this poem is somewhat playful. In The Moth's Serenade the lines are broken
up and more pointed giving off a sense of urgency and desperation.

Rhyme: This book does not heavily rely on rhyming. Most of the poems are without
rhyming,however, the poem Honeybees does utilize it. In part, this poem reads "I put
in an hour making wax, without two minutes' time to sit still and relax." The rhyming
gives this poem a more playful tone. In other poems there is no rhyming at all but
there is repetition. For example, in Grasshoppers the line "Grass springers, grass
soarers, leapfrogging, longjumping, grasshoppers'' is repeated.
Sentence Length: This poetry book has sentences of varying length that are spread
out in the stanzas. Some sentences are concise such as "Porch light, hear my plight!"
in The Moth's Serenade. Other sentences are longer, such as "Then I build some new
cells, slaving away at this enlarging this hell dreading the sight of another sunrise,
wondering why we don't all unionize" in Honeybees. The sentences are never so long
that they become convoluted and hard to comprehend.
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?
This book is a collection of 14 poems and thereby does not have a single main
character. Each poem is named after a different insect and subsequently details the
life of that particular insect. In the poem The Digger Wasp, the main character is a
mother wasp that is "digging now for their protection, far underground, they'll
recognize my deep affection." This poem is a bittersweet tale about a mother who is
determined to protect her children from danger as they wait to hatch. She knows
that she will die before their birth and that she is "never to be looked upon" by her
children (the supporting characters of this poem). Still, she digs diligently in order to
provide safety as a loving parting gift to her young.

I think parents can relate to this poem the most because they know what it is like to
do anything to protect their children. They understand making sacrifices for the
benefit of their children just like the mother wasp in the poem. Even people that
have a strong attachment to their animals can relate to the mother wasp in their own
way.
In the poem Chrysalis Diary,a caterpillar chronicles its journey to creating and waiting
within it's chrysalis. The caterpillar is the main character here, stating that it must
"dangle upside down from my perch, to cease being a caterpillar." The caterpillar
talks about immense loneliness, the fear that others have not survived the winter,
and feeling strange in its changing body. I think that many people can relate to this
poem. We all go through unavoidable changes in our lives and it can be scary, lonely,
and unsettling. But ultimately something beautiful can emerge from the uncertainty
in our lives like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.
Plot: Summarize the major events of the story (6 points)
This book of poems is not one cohesive story, rather, it is a collection of 14 short
narratives about the lives of different insects. In the poem Mayflies we are taken on a
journey through the short life of the insect. The mayflies are born "by the millions"
and they quickly lay their eggs before fluttering down to their early demise. In the
less somber Cicadas we are introduced to a "whining, whirring, pulsing" insect that
spends many months burrowing in the trees. Finally, the cicadas emerge from the
darkness and fill the air with their buzzing sounds from the treetops. In Chrysalis
Diary, we meet a caterpillar that follows a compulsion to create a chrysalis and hang
from a branch. As time passes, the caterpillar begins to physically transform and then
emerges as a butterfly.
Setting: Explain the place and time of this book. (2 points)
Theme: What is the main message of this book? (2 points)
Setting: This book takes place in multiple outdoor settings depending upon the poem.
In the opening poem Grasshoppers the author describes "Grasshoppers jumping.
Vaulting from leaf to leaf, stem to stem, plant to plant." The accompanying
illustration depicts a grasshopper leaping towards a fallen flower. In the poem
Fireflies the author describes "Fine artists in flight adding dabs of light. Signing the
June nights as if they were paintings." The accompanying illustrations for this poem
depict fireflies up close and afar as they light up the nighttime trees, plants, and
flowers around them. In yet another poem, The Digger Wasp, the wasp narrates
about digging deep underground to lay hide its eggs. Each poem has a different
setting but each takes place somewhere in nature.

Theme: Joyful Noise is a collection of poems focusing on the rich lives of different
insects. It is about cultivating empathy and a deeper understanding of the lives and
possible thoughts of insects which are often overlooked creatures reminding us that
we are not the only lifeforms on this planet that have a story to tell.
Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories
Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)? (2
points)
The illustrations within this book are done in the style of realism. They are detailed
and realistic recreations of nature and the various insects that you find in nature.
Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk):
(2 points)
The media used for the illustrations in this book was pencil and charcoal. Each
detailed illustration is presented in black, white, and gray.
Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations: (3)
Line:The lines in this story often depict movement. In one illustration, one cicada's
curved wings are pointed downward while the others wings are pointed outward
with legs flowing diagonally. This is showing that the cicadas are mid flight in the
illustration. In the illustration of the fireflies, we see swaying tree tops, softly bending
plants and flowers, and fireflies with their wings and legs outstretched as they fly
about the scene.

Shapes: The shapes throughout this story are curvy, straight, and easily identifiable.
The whirligig beetles have ovular bodies, round heads, and two pointed pincers that
curl inward. There are swirling lines that trail behind each beetle suggesting a circular
movement. In the last poem, we see a fat, bumpy caterpillar with prickly hairs
peeking out of its body. The caterpillar hands from a thin, curved branch that is
adorned with flaky leaves. The illustrations in this book are astonishingly realistic
recreations of the natural world and it's insect inhabitants.

Color: The illustrations in this book are all gray scale. Every drawing is various shades
of black,white, and gray.

Texture:This book has a variety of recognizable textures. In the first drawing, we see a
crunchy yet fragile grasshopper leaping forward on its prickly legs. In front of the
grasshopper, a soft limp flower lies across the floor. In Water Striders we see two
brittle, thin water striders balancing themselves atop some calm waters. Their tiny
legs barely apply enough pressure to make an indent in the water below. In House
Crickets, we see a cricket with legs bent as it struggles to crawl from underneath a
crown of broccoli. The broccoli is bushy and bumpy at the top while the stem is
smooth and creased. There is also a small, round tomato to the left of the cricket.
Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space and
all pages the same or different). (3)
The page design in this book included a lot of white space. Most of the poems are
introduced with an illustration of the insect at the top of the page followed by the
title and the beginning stanzas of the poem. There are two pages with larger
illustrations that are surrounded by white borders. The only section that deviates
from this structure is when you reach the poem Whirligig Beetles. In this poem, the
pages have illustrations of the beetles scattered all around and throughout the
poems stanzas.

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: Preoperational
and the age: 2-7 years old
Explain the cognitive development from this stage and provide an example from the
book to support your choice:
At this stage in a child's development, their understanding of the world around them
comes through mental images and language. Each poem in this book is accompanied
by a strikingly realistic black and white drawing of an insect. Children can connect to
these images and relate them back to their own lived experiences of seeing a bee, a
grasshopper, a firefly, ect.
The language of this book is both rich and descriptive. The poem Fireflies speaks of
"Fireflies glimmering, glowing. Insect calligraphers practicing penmanship. Six legged
scribblers of vanishing messages." For young children, you can ask them what they
think words like "calligraphers" and "vanishing" mean, and then help them to decode
the message. For older children, you can also introduce the new words but prompt
them to try to decode the poem for themselves. This book is filled with exciting
vocabulary, factual descriptions of insects, and realistic drawings. Altogether, it is
certain to captivate the imagination of young readers and get them talking.

1 would not recommend 2 average 3 highly recommended

Your rating of the book: 3/Highly Recommend

Why?
I would highly recommend this book because it is unique and educational. The author
does a fantastic job of detailing facts about insects while simultaneously personifying
them. You learn about different insects and also gain empathy for these tiny creatures
as well. I feel that it is well written and engaging for young children.