Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Alexander Garcia

Book Title: Chato’s Kitchen
Author: Gary Soto
Genre: Multicultural and International
Illustrator: Susan Guevara
Publisher/Year: G.P Putnam’s Sons, 1995
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)
Some of the words are written in Spanish like (“No problem, homeboy,” Chato said to himself and
followed his nose to the fence.) Some dialogue is exchanged between a family of mice and Chato
the cat. Some rhythm is found, but no rhyme. The sentences are very descriptive and Spanish words
are also present. (“They cooked the beans and made salsa-not too spicy for the guests-and a large
pitcher of tamarindo.”) Chato and his friend Novio Boy love to cook. Chato invites a new family of
mice that moved into the neighborhood. Only Chato and his friend plan to eat the mice along with
the food they have prepared.

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 is Chato, the cat. He is a friendly sneaky cat that loves to cook, and we all love to
eat a nice meal from your new neighbors in your new neighborhood. So, it is very easy to get
involved in the story. The supporting characters are Novio Boy and Chato’s friend. A family of mice
that have just moved into the neighborhood, and Chorizo the dog an old friend of the mice family.

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

Chato the cat and Novio Boy are cooking dinner for a mice family, their new neighbors. The mice
family decided to attend but remembered an old friend was supposed to visit that evening. So
Chato agrees to invite their friend Chorizo to dinner as well. Chato and Novio Boy had the intention
of eating the mice family. However, when the mice family arrives for dinner, they have a dog named
Chorizo with them. Chato and Novio Boy are frightened of the extra guests, so they decide it is not
good to eat the mice and eat the food they cooked instead of eating the mice since the dog Chorizo
is present.

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

Theme: What is the main message of this book? (2 points)
Setting: It takes place in Chato’s home.

Theme: Be aware of nice and friendly people. They may not have the best intentions.

Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories
Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)? (2
points)
The style used is cartoon art.

Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk):
(2 points)
Watercolors and pencil are used.

Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations: (3)
Line: The lines are thick and bold to outline Chato and Novio Boy the cats, giving them human-like
expressions on the face. Chorizo, the dog, also has a wide outline and the outline for the table and
legs. On the other hand, the outlines for the family of mice are rather thin compared to the rest.
Shapes: Chato and Novio Boy have round-shaped heads. The little mice have triangle-shaped
heads.
Color: Many different colors are present. The floor is black and pink. The mice are gray. Mom is
wearing a red dress and a white shall, a black purse, and yellow shoes. The dad mouse wears an
orange hat, a black vest, a white shirt, and blue jeans. The girl mouse has white boots, a pink skirt,
an orange shirt, and long black hair. Two other mice are boys wearing shorts and yellow shirts. The
dog named Chorizo is a black and brown dog with a red hat and a colorful red vest with blue, green,
and yellow lines. They are all under a brown table with a green tablecloth decorated with yellow
pears.
Texture: Chorizo, the dog, has smooth long silky hair. The two cats, Chato and Novio Boy, have
thick spiky hair that stands up. The mice have slick hair.
Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space and
all pages the same or different). (3)
The illustration is one big scene that takes up both pages, the text is found on the left-hand corner
on the only white space available. There are no borders on this page spread. Both pages are
designed the same as they come together to complete the scene.

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__________ Industry verses Inferiority ___________ and the
age__________ School age _____________
Explain the cognitive development from this stage and provide an example from the
book to support your choice: Children learn to master new skills. In the book, Chato and his
friend Novio Boy master a delicious Mexican dinner that highlights all the classic dishes such as
(“fajitas, enchiladas, carne asada, chiles rellenos and a sweet flan.”)

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_______

Why? The fusion of Spanish and English is very familiar and dear to me, and I love that the mice are
safe from Chato and Novio Boy in the end. It gives me hope that good natures people can win.