Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Michelle Valerio

Book Title: Drum Dream Girl

Author: Margarita Engle

Genre: Biography

Illustrator: Rafael López

Publisher/Year: HarperCollins Publishers/2015

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)

Ms. Engle makes excellent use of all of these aspects in her story. Her lyrical style

lends itself to the dreamy ambiance of the illustrations. The tale is written like a poem

and broken up structurally to express this. We see a great example of this when she

writes, “Her hands seemed to fly, as they rippled, rapped and pounded, all the

rhythms, of her drum dreams.”

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 Milo, a young girl who wants to play the drums. It’s her passion

for drumming that we get to experience. Her supporting characters are her father,

sisters, and teacher. All of their roles in the story strengthen Millo’s desire to play.

Even her father who serves as an obstacle only enhances her longing. Young children

relate to this character because they’re also exploring independence and resilience.

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

A young girl dreams of playing drums. Her community disregards her longing because

only men played drums. All over the city, she hears the enticing sound of drums.

Ignoring the doubt of others she plays and joins a band with her sisters. Her father

hears this and forbids it until having a change of heart and allowing her to take

lessons. With practice, she becomes so talented everyone decided girls should be

allowed to play drums just like the boys.

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

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

This book takes place in a city in Cuba during the 1930s, when Millo was 10. Our

lesson is that we should follow our passions and not let others limit what we’re

capable of.

Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories

Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon

art)? (2 points)
The style of these illustrations is a mixture of cartoon and surrealism. We see strong

aspects of both of these styles within the images. The merging of indoor and the

outdoor and the way Millo’s dreams seem to blur into her real world.

Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons,

acrylic, chalk): (2 points)

Watercolors, acrylic, pencils, and pens.

Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in
the illustrations: (3)
Line: The curving line flowing from the drums represents the music filling the room.

Shapes: There is an eye-catching contrast between the soft shapes of the drums and

the sharp triangular design adorning them. This represents the dichotomy between
her will to play and the obstacles in her way.

Color: On the page where Millo meets her teacher the vibrant jewel tones represent

the magic of the music of drums filling the room.

Texture: The curved U lines and shading on the small bird creates the texture of its

feathers.

Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and

dark space and all pages the same or different). (3)
This book utilizes both pages to present eye-catching artwork. The art in this story is

just as important as the text in relating Millo's emotions. The art takes center stage

with the text thoughtfully placed around the images in ways that allow them to shine.

Child Development Theory: Choose either Piaget, Erickson or Social

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

Stage 2 Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt: Toddlerhood

In this stage, children explore independence and seek to do more on their own. They

build autonomy when mistakes are embraced and accepted. In contrast, shame can

develop if negative connotations are connected to mistakes. Millo gains autonomy

from the limitations placed on her gender. She breaks away and follows her passing

by initially exploring drumming on her own.

1 would not recommend 2 average 3 highly recommended

Your rating of the book: 3

Why?

This book is a great way to spark a passion for music. Its inspiring artwork allows you

to feel just as passionate as Millo does. Her story is inspiring and important for

children, so they know that nothing is impossible.