Fiction Evaluation Form

(Picture Books, Folklore, Modern Fantasy, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Books)

Your Name: Alisha Reid Book Title: All the Way to America
Author: Dan Yaccarino Illustrator: Dan Yaccarino

Genre: Multicultural Publisher/Year: 2011

EVALUATE THE BOOK USING THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS

STYLE and Language: Explain the language used word choices, sentence length, dialogue, rhythm, rhyme.
Explain unexpected insights or interesting information the reader learns from the story. Give examples form
the book
Word Choices: Poor, worked hard, left, Italy, opportunities, enjoy life, family, friends, helped,
business, support, leave school, love.
Sentence length: Varies from, When Dan grew up he married Helen. To, Now the little shovel
belonged to Dan, and he used it to measure out beans, macaroni, and olives.
Dialogue: But remember to enjoy life. And never forget your family, his mother said. Work
hard, his father told him. Work hard, my father told me.
Rhythm: Normal talking rhythm.
Rhyme: No Rhyme.
Before the story even begins, there is a map on the inside cover which shows the distance between
New York City and Sorrento, Italy. The story shows the family dynamic in Italy and again in New York
after the family has moved.

CHARACTER Who is the main character? Explain the characters personality traits. How can the reader
relate to the character, become involved in the story?
Who are the supporting characters? Give examples of both.
The main character is the narrator of the story. He is telling about his past and ancestors. He loves
his family, his ancestors, and his home in New York. He even named his son Michael after his great
grandfather and his father. He is an author and illustrator for childrens books. The reader can
relate to him because he takes us through the story of his past all the to present day, so we feel like
we know him. He has the same ideas about life as his great, great grandparents did. The supporting
characters are his great, great grandparents who worked very hard but were very poor. His great
grandpa who moved from Italy to New York for new opportunities. His Grandparents who owned
their own Italian restaurant, and his parents who owned a barbershop.

1. PLOT: (Explains the major events in the story.) Summarize the plot

1. Michele grew up on a farm in Italy but was very poor.

2. He decides to move to America for better opportunities.
3. Michele gets married and has 5 kids.
4. His oldest son Dan grew up and got married.
5. Dan owns a restaurant.
6. Dans son Mike marries Elaine.
7. They own a barbershop.
 8. They give birth to their son, the author of the book.
9. The author grows up and still holds the same family values.

2. SETTING Explain the place and time of the book.

THEME- What is the storys theme or lesson?

Setting: Italy an America from the past to present.

Theme: Work hard, enjoy life and love your family.

ILLUSTRATION Analyze the illustrations in the book (see Chapter 4) with the categories below: Choose a 2-
page spread in the book to answer the following:
What Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, nave, cartoon art)?
Cartoon art
Media (paints, oils watercolors, pencil, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk) :
Paints.

Visual elements:
Line: lines on the wooden ground, lines in the water, lines on his hat, lines on the basket, lines on the log, lines on the
mountain, lines on the passengers clothes, lines on the shovel, lines on their shoes.
Shapes: circle eyes, cylinder log, rectangular recipe cards, round hats, rectangle legs, diamonds on the basket.
Color: Brown basket shoes, hat, floor, bags, mustache ,jacket, ship black bags, ship, eyes, mountain, blue water, houses,
basket liner, skirt, dress, head wrap, bag, green scarf, pants, hat, head scarf ,red neck tie, head scarf.
Texture: In the basket, The water has waves, the ground has texture, texture in the ship, texture on the hat.

Explain how illustration and text are combined to tell the story. What do illustrations show that text does not
explain?
The text is explaining how Michele left Italy to go to New York for new opportunities. His father
tells him, Work hard but remember to enjoy life. As he hands him his little shovel. His mom tells
him, Never forget your family. As she gives him her recipe for tomato sauce. In the illustrations it
shows his father and mother standing in front of Michele as he prepares to board the ship. Michele
has a backpack on his back and a bag in his hand as he reaches for the shovel his father is handing
him. His mother is holding a basket and recipe cards. No one looks happy in the illustration.

Describe the Page design: the borders, use of white/dark space, text placement & size, font, placement of illustrations:

There are no borders on these pages. The photos take up the entire page, all the way to the ends.
The text is placed on top of the illustration of the wooden ground on the bottom of each page. Both
pages are combined to make one huge illustration.
3. CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES CHOOSE 2 of theories below and evaluate the book according to the
developmental theories. (How the book fits the developmental stage and age?)

PIAGET-COGNITIVE-INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Name the stage____________Preopertional______ and the age____2 to 7_________________

Explain the cognitive development from the stage: Children begin to think of objects and people
outside of their immediate environment.
Give examples from the book show how the book fits the cognitive stage: Discussing a familys
development dating back to their time in Italy to present day,.

ERIKSON PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Name the stage ________Industry vs Inferiority__________________________ and the
age___________School age__________

Explain the social development for this stage: Learns to master new skills

Give examples from the book that support the social development of this stage: In the book it talks
about how children had to leave school at a young age and help work for the family. Children their
own age were working in restaurants and on farms.

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Identify the Age __________________________________
Explain the emotional development at this age:

Give examples from the book to illustrate the emotional development of this age:

4. Overall Rating of the book (3 highest - 1 lowest) 3 1 2 3

Comments: (Support your overall rating) A very clear insight into an Italian Familys past and place
in our American family.