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Fiction Evaluation Form

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


Fiction, Multicultural Books)

Your Name: Jennifer Lopez Romero Book Title: Anansi does the Impossible
Author: Verna Aardema Illustrator: Lisa Desimini
Genre: Folklore Publisher/Year: Simon and Schuster, 2000

EVALUATE THE BOOK USING THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS

STYLE and Language: Using examples from the book, explain the following: word
choices, dialogue, rhythm, rhyme and sentence length. Also, explain unexpected insights
or interesting information the reader learns from the story. Give examples.
 The author uses long sentences with easy words for a child to understand.
 It has words in other language, in the beginning the book has a glossary with the
meaning of the words.
CHARACTER – With examples from the book give the following: Who is the main
character? Explain the character’s personality traits.
How can the reader relate to the character, become involved in the story?
Who are the supporting characters?
 Anansi is the main character of the story
 The sky god
 Anansi’s wife (Aso)
 A python
 Fairies
1. PLOT: summarize the major events in the story-

 Long ago all tales were owned by the Sky God, one day Anansi the Spider wanted to
buy the tales for the earth people. His wife Aso fear that he was taking a morsel too big
to fit his mouth. Well, we shall see said Anansi and the next day he went to see the Sky
God. Puffing out his chest, Anansi told the Sky God that he wants to buy his stories.
The Sky God beat his thunder and answer, he bellowed “what makes you think you can
buy them?”. Kings have tried and failed said the Sky God, Anansi asks him what do
you want in exchange for them? The Sky God replies bring me a live python, a real
fairy, and forty-seven hornets. I can manage that said Anansi, then he hurried straight
home. Anansi told her wife what the Sky God wants. Aso thought and thought and he
said “I know how to begin” she whispered in Anansi’s ear and they ran nearby river
and waited. A python came slithering to drink water and Anansi said than it is longer
than he is. The big snack asks “what are you two arguing about?” the long that we’re
siting reply Anansi. “I know that I am longer” said the python and Anansi said “you
look shorter to me”. The python lay down on the log, putting his nose even with one
end of it. Anansi told him that the tail is too short, Anansi gave the tail a pull, now he
noses is short. Aso said “tie his tail to the other end then he can make himself longer”.
Anansi took a long bush rope and began winding around the snake’s tale all the way up
to the python’s head. Anansi took the snake to the Sky God and give it to him but he
still missing the real fairy and the forty-seven stinging hornets. Anansi went home and
told Aso what the Sky God said and she help him. She suggested, that he carved a
wooden fairy and covered it with sticky gum from a mimosa tree. Aso put a tiny dish
of banana fu-fu into its hand. A fairy got her hand stuck on the doll and Anansi pulled
the strings with the doll and the fairy attached to her. He took the fairy to the Sky God,
then the Sky God roared “how can a measly creature like you perform these impossible
tasks?” but you still missing the forty-seven hornets said the Sky God. Anansi went
home and told her wife what the Sky God said. Aso suggested that he plucked a bottle-
shape gourd from a calabash tree, whittled a wooden cork for it, and filled it with water
rom the river. He did and he place it in a bush, Anansi took the hornets and give them
to the Sky God when he saw Anansi, he flashed his lightning. “No” he cried, he threw
up his hands in resignation and give the stories to Anansi. Anansi thanked the Sky God
then he went home, that night the people of the village gathered inside a circle of fires
for storytelling.

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


THEME- What is the story’s theme/message?

Setting: It takes place in a village.


Theme: demonstrate the power of working together and that nothing is impossible, when you
want something.
ILLUSTRATION –Analyze the illustrations for the book you selected (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, naïve, cartoon art)?
Media choices (paints, oils watercolors, pencil, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk) :
Give examples and describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations:
Line: Straight and curve line for the leaves. Horizontal lines for the street.
Shapes: Circles for head and eyes of the animals and the moo. Rectangle for the decoration of
the cloth.
Color: Light and dark green, black, pink, orange, blue, yellow, light and dark brown, purple
and white.
Texture: It uses smooth and soft texture in the whole illustration
Explain how illustration and text are combined to tell the story. What do illustrations
show that text does not explain?
 The text explains what Aso and Anansi are planning to do to get a fairy. The picture
shows both of them talking and the other illustration show the fairy walking at night in
the middle of the road.
Page design: Summarize the following: placement of illustrations and text; the use of
borders and white/dark space; are both pages designed the same or differently?
 The text in place on the top of both pages, the pages has different illustration, one page
has a tiny light brown border and the other page does not has border. The illustrations
does not use a lot of dark or white spaces the only dark space is the shadow of the fairy
and the white I use for the moon and the starts.
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: concrete operational_ and the ag: 7 to 11____________________

Explain the cognitive development from the stage:


 Reasoning skills include two-way thinking (more than on point of view)
Give examples from the book show how the book fits the cognitive stage:
 Ask the children what they would do if someone ask them a big task that is seem
impossible.
 What they love the most about Anansi and discuss if they know someone like him.
ERIKSON – PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Name the stage: Industry versus Inferiority __ and the age: School
age_________________

Explain the social development for this stage:


 Have the opportunities to develop skills and learn information.
Give examples from the book that support the social development of this stage:
 Discuss what the kids learned in the book.
 The book talks about the different plans that they create to catch what the Sky God
wants, discuss what they would do different.

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


Comments: (Support your overall rating)
 it uses a variety of words and has information that it can be used to start discussion
with the class.

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