Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Anela Gonsalves-Park

Book Title: I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!
Author: Karen Beaumont
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction- Humor
Illustrator: David Catrow
Publisher/Year: HarperCollins Publishers/2005
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)

There was a lot of rhythm and rhymes as the word in this book were meant to be
sang. The sentence length was really short, and the word were simple enough for
younger children to sing along too.

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 the boy who is constantly painting himself.

The reader can relate to the character because children can possibly defy their
parents’ wishes while wanting to explore more than they’re limited to.

The supporting characters could be the boy’s mother as she tells him not to paint
anymore.

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

The boy is told by his mother not to paint anymore because he made a big mess while
painting on the interior of their home including the wall, curtains, and ceiling. The
boy defies his mother’s wishes and takes the paint from where his mother stored it.
He then begins to paint his body all sorts or colors with the paint. He paints his head,
neck, chest, arm, hand, back, leg, and feet. His mother finds him after he has painted
his whole body and has a shock. He ends up back in the tub and is not happy because
there is no more paint left to play with.

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

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

The story takes place within the boy’s home. The time is most likely in the day since
there is no indication of it being dark out.

The main message of this book is that children are prone to wanting to explore and
make messes while doing so.

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

I believe the style of this book is surrealism and naïve. There are many things that are
out of proportion but also illustrations that do not portray real life things.

Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk):
(2 points)

The media choice is paint and pens/pencils.

Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations: (3)
Line: Used to outline figures and things within the background. Also portrays areas of
shading which create depth. The lines vary but include mostly thin and black.
Shapes: There are many shapes used to create things within the background and
items such as the paint streak on his chest which is circular.
Color: The color within the illustrations is very vibrant and vary from warm and cool
shades as well as mixing the two. Also, there are black and white used throughout.
Texture: There are many areas that provide texture including the lines which create
the depth. Those lines have a rough look to them in contrast to the paint streaks
which looks smooth and glossy.

Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space and
all pages the same or different). (3)

Every page is different within this book. The placement of illustrations is different and
the area where text is varies. The only thing that they all have in common is the white
background.

Child Development Theory: Choose either Piaget, Erickson or Social Emotional to

describe the connection to the book Chose 1 only (5 points)

Erickson:
Name the stage Initiative vs Guilt and the age Preschool
Explain the cognitive development from this stage and provide an example from the
book to support your choice:

The cognitive development from this stage surround how children are learning to take
initiative and complete tasks. They are also exploring and trying new things within this
age.
An example of this within the story include when the boy continues to explore with
the pain after his mother advises him not to. He is taking the initiative to continue to
play with the paint despite his mother’s efforts of stopping him.

1 would not recommend 2 average 3 highly recommended

Your rating of the book: 3

Why?

I recommend this book because it is good for children to know that exploring and
being humorous is something that is not wrong for them to do but is not always what
their parents want.