Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Adriana Raugust

Book Title: Good Night Moon
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Genre: Picture Books
Illustrator: Clement Hurd
Publisher/Year: 1947
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)
It is a predictable picture book with a lot of rhyme. Bright colors of green and orange
that stick out the most in the illustration. There is a lot of repetition; for example, the
bunny says goodnight twenty times in this short, easy-to-read book. The reader
learns to acknowledge everything around the environment and says goodnight to
everything to eventually relax and fall asleep.

Character: With examples from the book, provide the following- (5 points)
Who is the main character? The little bunny.
How can the reader relate to the character? Because the reader is doing a bedtime
ritual.
Who are the supporting characters? The old lady saying hush.

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

The book begins by acquainting the reader with what is in the bunny’s room. The
story opens, “In the great green room/ There was a telephone/ And a red balloon/
And a picture of—/ The cow jumping over the moon.” After the opening picture
pages, does the bunny begin his round of goodnights. He then proceeds to say
goodnight to everything familiar to him. After an hour of saying goodnight to
everything, the bunny finally becomes sleepy and ends with saying Goodnight noises
everywhere and is seen under the covers in a quaint dark room.
Setting: Explain the place and time of this book.
The setting is inside of the bunny’s room, and the time is during bedtime. In the first
picture, the clock reads 7 pm.
Theme: What is the main message of this book?
The main message of this book is to let kids have an imagination and allow them to
say goodnight to everything, and acknowledge the child’s innocence of having no
care in the world. In addition, having a bedtime ritual to help self-soothe to fall
asleep.
Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories
Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)? (2
points)
Realism is the type of illustration. The bunny is shown in pajamas, the objects in the
room seem accurate, and the time moves forward.

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

Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations: (3)
Line: Flowing diagonal lines on the fireplace show the fire is moving.
Shapes: The triangular-shaped throw blanket on top of the bunny’s bed. Perfectly
folded and placed organically. I can see the crease on the fold.
Color: Bright green and orange, but also some pages in black and white.
Texture: In the stitching of the carpet of the floor and in the stitching of the basket
holding the logs for the fireplace.
Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space, and
all pages the same or different). (3)
Some illustrations use the whole page in bright colors with no black or white space in
between. Others only use specific pictures in black and white and provide white
spaces. Some texts are in black, and others are in orange. Some texts are on the
bottom of the illustrations, and some are on the left upper corner.
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: The Preoperational Stage 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:
 Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to
represent objects.
 Examples: “ Goodnight cow jumping over the moon,” “Goodnight noises
everywhere” and “goodnight to the old lady whispering “hush””

1 would not recommend 2 average 3 highly recommended

Your rating of the book: ____3__________

Why?
I would highly recommend this book because it is a predictable book with easy words
for younger children and a classic bedtime story. The book is full of rhymes as well as
repetition. The book is also interactive as you can have the child try and find the
objects mentioned in the story and have them look for it in the room. I have the board
book version and is great for the younger infants to hold.