Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books

presented by Beth Gallaway, Metrowest
August 21, 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ELEMENTS of a BOOK REVIEW

  1. Description (format, size, age range, genre)
  2. Clear concise plot summary (never give away the ending!)
  3. Analysis of language (quote examples if possible; discuss elements of story and literary devices)
  4. Analysis of artwork (cite examples if possible; discuss elements of illustration in artistic terms)
  5. Analysis of design/structure
  6. Personal response (your opinion/assessment of the work)
  7. Comparison to similar titles (readlikes, other books by author/illustrator)
  8. Suggested uses for material and cautions (intended audience, curriculum alignment, trends)

REVIEWING PICTURE BOOKS*

DESIGN
Design clarifies the sequence of ideas and shows how the parts are related. Is the appropriate size type used? Are different styles and sizes used? Why? For what purpose? How are the illustrations placed? How much white space is on the page? Where is text placed in relation to the images? Are there moving parts? Sensory elements besides visual? Is this book a retelling or repackaging of another story?

EQUITY
Are males and females represented equally and without stereotypes in text and image? Is the text gender neutral? Are images composed of diverse people?

ILLUSTRATIONS
How are the illustrations composed with line, texture, shape and color? How do the illustrations relate to and clarify the story? What media is used? What is the style? How is the composition: busy? sparse? static? dynamic? How do the size and placement of the pictures relate to the book?

NARRATIVE
Who is the narrator? What perspective is the story told from? What is the tone of the story? Is dialect or accent used? Is it appropriate for the subject matter?

PACE
There is a drama to turning the page. Do the pages seem to turn in the right place? Does the text flow naturally? How does it sound out loud?

PAPER
Are the pages thick? Flimsy? Smooth? Glossy? Opaque? Marbled? How do the endpapers and cover integrate the book?

PATTERNED LANGUAGE
Look at rhythm and sound. Rhyme advances the predictability of the story. Are there questions as part of the story (to directly involve the child in the story)? Patterned language should not overwhelm the story.

TEXT
Most picture books are 32 pages in length. What is the story? How is it told? How does the text and illustrations integrate?

STRUCTURE
 Is there a format to the story? How does the sequence of events unfold? What devices does the author/illustrator use?

WRITING STYLE
Style brings the story to life. Is there writing clear, flowery, complex? Was the approach creative or original? How are the underlying principles presented?

REVIEWING FICTION*

CHARACTERIZATION
 How are details of appearance, action, thought, and dialogue revealed to develop the characters? Are they realistic? Dynamic? Stereotyped?

COVER ART
How does the cover illustration market the title to its audience.

LITERARY DEVICES
 What literary devices does the author employ? How (well) are they used?

NARRATIVE
 How does the sequence of events unfold? Whose point of view is the story from? What is the central conflict? How well does it maintain the tension and get resolved?

SETTING
 How does the setting flesh out the story?

STRUCTURE
 Is there a format to the story? How is it organized? What devices does the author/illustrator use?

THEME
What is the story about? What is the overall idea? How do the plot, setting, and characterizations reveal the theme?

VOICE
Is the voice authentic? Consistent? Do you believe the thoughts and actions are age-appropriate?

WRITING STYLE
Style brings the story to life. Is the writing distinctive? Unique? Is the approach creative or original? Is there writing clear, flowery, complex? How are the underlying themes presented?

REVIEWING NONFICTION*

AUTHORITY
Who is the author? Look for biographical information. Check the acknowledgements. Who does the author cite? Review language and illustrations - are they inclusive? Does the author "talk down" to the audience?

ACCURACY
Is the information accurate and up-to-date? Are processes clearly and accurately presented?

BIAS
Are the materials free of religious and political bias? Is the presentation of controversial issues balanced and sensitive?

DESIGN
Design clarifies the sequence of ideas and shows how the parts are related. Is the appropriate size type used? Are different styles and sizes used? Why? For what purpose? How are the illustrations placed? How much white space is on the page?

DOCUMENTATION
Is there a bibliography of sources (indicating primary or secondary)? Are the sources up-to-date? Are popular or scholarly sources used? Are there lists of further reading? Are photos credited?

EQUITY
 Are both genders represented equally and without stereotypes in text and image? Are images composed of diverse people? Is the material relevant in a wide number of geographic locations and to a wide spectrum of students from diverse backgrounds? Are suggested activities or experiments accessible to all students?

ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustrations provide information by supporting or extending the text. How do they relate to the text? Are they merely decorative? Or do they enhance and add? Are they up to date? Clear? Accurate?

ORGANIZATION
Is there a logical sequence - either chronological or enumerated? Is there a table of contents? Is there an index?

SCOPE
What is the scope of the book? Is it for the beginner with no background in the subject?

VALUE
How might this book be used? What makes it worth the purchase price? How does it compare with similar titles? It is high quality? Does it have wide appeal?

WRITING STYLE
Style brings the subject to life. Is there precision? Clarity? Was the approach creative or original? How are the underlying principles presented? What is the tone? Is it appropriate for the subject matter? Does the author fictionalize or anthropomorphize?

REVIEWING POETRY

FORM
What is the form? ballad, narrative, lyrical, free verse, cinquain, diamante, sonnet,

LANGUAGE
Is the writing flowery, sparse, vivid... How is the poem written? How does the language fit the form and theme?

LITERARY DEVICES
 What literary devices does the author employ? How (well) are they used? Alliteration, assonance, metaphor, onomatepia and simile are often specific to poetry.

RHYTHM
How does the poem sound? Do the words flow? Describe the sound, pitch, stress and syllables. Does the rhythm encourage particpation, create drama, set mood?

THEME
What is the story about? What is the overall idea? How do the plot, setting, and characterizations reveal the theme?

REVIEWING TRADITIONAL LITERATURE

CHARACTERIZATION
 How are details of appearance, action, thought, and dialogue revealed to develop the characters? Are they realistic? Dynamic? Stereotyped? Stock (stock folklore characters include the beautiful maiden, the hero/prince, the fool, the trickster, the wise person, the wizard/witch, the childless couple, the stepmother, fantasy characters, and personified objects.

DOCUMENTATION
Is there a bibliography of sources (indicating primary or secondary)? A history of the story? An explanation of what the reteller changed, and why? How does this version compare to others?

ELEMENTS
Does the story employ devices such as magic or mythical beasts?

LITERARY DEVICES
 What literary devices does the author employ? How (well) are they used?

NARRATIVE
 How does the sequence of events unfold? Whose point of view is the story from? What is the central conflict? How well does it maintain the tension and get resolved?

SETTING
 How does the setting flesh out the story? If particular to a time and place, are historical details accurate and well-rendered?

SUBGENRE
What kind of traditional literature is it: fable, myth, epic, legenda, tall tale, folktale (porquio, cumulative, beast, trickster, fairy)

THEME
What is the story about? What is the overall idea? How do the plot, setting, and characterizations reveal the theme? Does the story employ traditional themes such as good vs evil, justice previals, unselfish love conquers all, intelligence beats physical strenght and/or beauty, or hard work is rewarded?

VOICE
Is the voice authentic? Consistent? Do you believe the thoughts and actions are age-appropriate?

WRITING STYLE
Style brings the story to life. Is the writing distinctive? Unique? Is the approach creative or original? Is there writing clear, flowery, complex? How are the underlying themes presented?

REVIEWING MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE

ACCURACY
Are cultural details such as customs, dress, food, manners, religion, speech, etc, represented accurately?

AUTHENTICITY
Does the book realistically and honestly portray the culture?

AUTHORITY
Who is the author? Look for biographical information. Check the acknowledgements. What about the author's background makes him or her an authority on the culture?

AWARENESS
Does the book foster awareness, understanding or appreciation for people who at first glance may seem different from the reader?

CULTURE
Does the story affirm reader's own culture group? Introduce the reader to new or unique world cultures

DIVERSITY:
Does the book contain groups that cross lines religious affiliations or sexual orientations?

STEREOTYPING
Is racial/cultural/ethnic/religious/gender stereotyping avoided?

ELEMENTS OF STORY

Antagonist: a character or element in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works again the main character.

Character: People who inhabit the story. Static characters are the same throughout. Dynamic characters change physically, emotionally, mentally or spirituality.

Characterization: what the author reveals about characters through their thoughts, feelings, descriptions, actions, and words, as well as how other characters react to them

Conflict: Events or people are set against one another in the story, the problem of the story. There are four central conflicts in creative writing:

Dénouement: (climax/pinnacle) The turning point of the story, where the dynamic character changes. The climax may be an action or a change in thought; it is some resolution or solution of the conflict.

Dialogue: The conversation between characters (or character and self) in a story.

Flashback: An interruption of the chronological sequence to relay an event of earlier occurrence.

Format: The medium of the material: audio, video, novel in verse, email/IM, epistolary (letters or email) graphic novel, manga.

Genre: a type of literature.

Language: Describes the writing style: flowery, sparse, vivid... How is the story written?

Motif: A recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature.

Moral: Virtuous lesson taught in a story.

Narrative: The collection of events that tells a story, which may be true or not, placed in a particular order and recounted through either telling or writing.

Narrator: The one who tells a story, the speaker or the "voice" or persona of an oral or written work.

Novel: An extended, fictional prose narrative about characters and events that is a representation of life, experience, and learning. Action, discovery, and description are important elements, but the most important tends to be one or more characters--how they grow, learn, find. Runs around 50,000 words.

Plot: The plan of action or series of events that make up the story.

Point of View: The way the events of a story are conveyed to the reader, it is the "vantage point" from which the narrative is passed from author to the reader. May be limited (narrated by one person) or omniscient (shows all points of view), or objective (non- participant, reveals no inner motives). Person is used with point of view to describe who is telling the story:

Protagonist: The main character, around whom the action centers.

Subplot: A subordinate or minor collection of events in a novel or drama, usually with some connection with the main plot, acting as foils to, commentary on, complications of, or support to the theme of, the main plot.

Setting: Time, place, physical details, and circumstances in which the story occurs.

Style: The way the author tells the story. Does the author use poetry, multiple points of view, letters, flashbacks, repetition, rhythm, or rhyme?

Theme: A recurring or unifying subject or idea throughout the story.

Tone: The writer's attitude toward his readers and his subject; his mood or moral view. A writer can be formal, informal, playful, ironic, and especially, optimistic or pessimistic.

Timing: Stories have a natural pace and rhythm. Is dialogue believable? Does the writing flow? Do events occur in sequence?

Tense: Describes the verb form that show the time of the action or state of being, such as present tense, past tense, past perfect, etc. i.e. I run away, I ran away, I had run away.

Unreliable narrator: A narrator who gives his or her own understanding of a story, instead of the explanation and interpretation the author wishes the audience to obtain.

Voice: Describes the narrator's tone.

LITERARY DEVICES

Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds, at the beginning of successive words, or inside successive words.

Allusion: Reference in a literary work to a person, place or thing in another literary work

Hyperbole: an extravagant exaggeration.

Irony: a literary term referring to how a person, situation, statement, or circumstance is not as it would actually seem. There are 3 types of irony:

Onomatepeia: words sound like what they mean, ie “pop”

Metaphor: In which a statement is made that says that one thing is something else but, literally, it is not.

Personification: A figure of speech where animals, ideas or inorganic objects are given human characteristics.

Rhyme: The similarity between syllable sounds at the end of two or more lines.

Simile: A comparison of two unalike things using the words "like" or "as."

ELEMENTS OF ILLUSTRATION

Color: Hues used to shade an illustration. Colors convey a mood, setting or theme.

Composition: Arrangement of individual objects in a scene to form a harmonious whole.

Depth: The distance from the top downward, from the surface inward, or from front to back.

Font: Typestyle that the book is set in. Is it readable? Well-sized? Uniform?

Medium: tools used to create the illustrations, i.e. watercolors, computer animated, photography, charcoal, pastel, crayon, pencils, oils, gouache, ink, woodcuts, stencil, collage, embroidery, etc.

Moving parts: Does the book have tabs, flaps, pop-ups, wheels to spin, holes to poke at?

Paper: There are many types of paper that books can be printed on. Are the pages thick? Flimsy? Smooth? Glossy? Opaque? Marbled? How do the endpapers and cover integrate the book?

Perspective: The art of picturing objects as to show them as they appear to the eye with reference to relative distance or depth.

Point of view: Vantage point from which the illustration is drawn. Is the viewpoint static or varied?

Proportion: Comparative relation between parts to a whole.

Size: Relationship between text and image – size and placement of illustrations may change throughout the book

Style: Emulation of a particular artist, period or style, i.e. caricature, painterly, graphical

Texture: Structural quality of a work of art.

REVIEW RESOURCES

PRINT
Litowinsky, Olga. It’s a Bunny Eat Bunny World: A Writers Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today’s Competitive Children’s Book Market. Walker & Company, 2001.
This publishing guide gives a great overview of the publishing process, genres, and what makes a publishable book for children.

Horning, Kathleen T. and Stacy Innerst. From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books. Harper Collins, 1997.
Industry information, plus how to critique and analyze nonfiction (including folklore and poetry), picture books, easy readers, and fiction for youth.

REVIEW JOURNALS
Horn Book . The Horn Book, Inc. ISSN 0018-5078. 1924- . http://www.hbook.com/ . August 15, 2006.

Kliatt . Kliatt. ISSN 1065-8602 . 1967- . http://hometown.aol.com/kliatt/ . August 15, 2006.

School Library Journal . Reed Business Information, ISSN 0362-8930. -. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/ . August 15, 2006.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA). Scarecrow Press. ISSN 0160-4201. 1977-. http://www.voya.com/ . August 15, 2006.

Library Media Connection . Linworth Publishing. ISSN 1043-237X 2003- . http://www.linworth.com/lmc.html . August 15, 2006.

BOOK REVIEWS ONLINE
Brenner, Robin et al. No Flying, No Tights. http://www.noflyingnotights.com . August 15, 2006.
Graphic novels and manga for all ages.

Children’s Bookshelf. Publishers Weekly. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6253324.html . August 15, 2006.
This e-newsletter comes out weekly via email delivery.

Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University. http://www.lib.muohio.edu/pictbks/ . August 15, 2006.

The Hip Librarians Book Blog . http://www.hiplibrariansbookblog.blog-city.com. August 15, 2006.
Nonfiction and fiction for children and teens.

McQuark Review of e-Books for Kids . http://www.mcquark.com/. August 15, 2006.

NMRLS Youth Services Book Review Group . NMRLS. 1999-present. http://ysbookreview.blogspot.com/ . August 15, 2006.

Notes from the Windowsill . http://www.armory.com/~web/notes.html. August 15, 2006.

Reader’s Circle - A Boston Regional Library System Initiative . http://readerscircle.blogspot.com. August 15, 2006.

Swan, Jennifer Hubert. Reading Rants. http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/jen . August 15, 2006.

OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES
Bettendorf Public Library. Young Adult Books in a Series and Sequels . http://www.bettendorflibrary.com/bpl-bin/series.pl . August 15, 2006.

Children's Book Council – Bibliographies.http://www.cbcbooks.org/readinglists/. August 15, 2006.

Monroe Library. Books in a Series. http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/booklists/serieslist.html. August 15, 2006.

Sunlink Weed of the Month Club . http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/weed. August 15, 2006.

YA ARC Blog . http://www.yaaarc.blogspot.com. August 15, 2006.
Advance Reading Copy swap for young adult novels.

* content provided by Susan Babb, NMRLS

 

Evaluation for Evaluating and Reviewing Picture Books (please complete an evaluation if you access any of the materials on this page)