Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Esther Walker

Book Title: Ruth and the Green Book
Author: Calvin Alexander Ramsey
Genre: Historical realistic fiction, Children’s literature
Illustrator: Floyd Cooper
Publisher/Year: Carolrhoda Books-Lerner Publishing Group/2010
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)
Word choice example: “I felt empty in the pit of my stomach.” This example is a
figure of speech. Although her stomach is not truly empty, it feels empty from the
sadness she is feeling.

Dialogue example: “Mama and I had to go into the woods. I was embarrassed, but
Mama said the people who should be ashamed of themselves were those service
stations owners.” “It hurt my feelings to be so unwelcome.” In these examples, the
truth emerges, and we know how exactly how Ruth is feeling.

Rhythm example: “I was so excited to travel across the country! I packed my own
bag, and Mama said I could take Brown Bear with me for company, even though I’m
almost too old for him.” This example of rhythm helps create a mood.

Rhyme example: “As we drove out of Chicago, it felt funny to see the neighborhood
disappear and then the streets and then the buildings.” This example shows that
there is no rhyme scheme in the book.

Sentence length example: “I wondered what happened, but I knew somehow it

wasn’t a good time to ask him. Mama gave me a look that said, “Ruth, just keep
quiet.” So that’s what I did.” This example shows varied sentence length creating a
language that appeals to the ear.

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 in the book is Ruth.

The reader can relate to creating a sense of community and helping others in need all
while learning true compassion for people of different backgrounds.

The supporting characters are Ruth’s mama, daddy, and grandmother. Eddy, his wife
Alice, Mrs. Melody, and the little boy Ruth gave her brown bear to.

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

Ruth’s daddy bought a brand-new car for his new job. Ruth, her mama and daddy
take a trip to go see her grandma. They travel from Chicago to Alabama during the
Jim crow era. Ruth and her family were turned away at service stations, bathrooms,
and hotels because they were for “whites only.” Ruth was sad and she did not
understand why they didn’t want their business. Ruth said that it seemed as if there
were “white only” signs everywhere. They slept in their car and then stopped at her
daddy’s friend Eddy’s house. When they stopped at an Esso service station a man
sold them a copy of the “Green Book.” This book was made by a postman who
wanted to help black people traveling. The book lists places where black people are
welcome. They found Mrs. Melody’s tourist home in the book and she welcomed
them to stay the night with her for free. Their car broke down the next day, Ruth had
to find a place in the Green Book where daddy could take their car. They stayed at an
inn that night where she met a little boy who was traveling for the first time. She
could see that he was scared so Ruth gave him Brown Bear. Ruth realized during their
trip that traveling could be scary for black people, but she felt comfort knowing that
there were good black people all over the country forming a sense of community to
help each other. She could not wait to get to Grandma’s house and tell her what a
wonderful “Green Book guide” she had been on the trip.

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

Theme: What is the main message of this book? (2 points)
Setting: The setting of the book starts in Chicago as they travel across the U.S. to visit
Ruth’s grandma in Alabama during the Jim crow era.

Theme: The main message of this book is to bring awareness about the racial
injustices that African American’s faced while traveling on “free for all to use” roads
decades after the emancipation proclamation and thirteenth amendment ended
slavery.

Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories
Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)? (2
points)
The style of illustrations is impressionism.

Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk):
(2 points)
Oil paint, kneaded erasers, and transparent washes of color

Give examples of describe how the following visual elements are used in the
illustrations: (3)
Line: Curved lines are used to show movement. Example: On the first page you can
see Ruth, her daddy, and mama waving to each other showing movement.

Shapes: Simple and readily identifiable shapes are used. Example: On the first page
you can see Chicago city buildings represented by simple shapes such as rectangles
and triangles.

Color: The colors are vibrant yet have a faded look. There are a lot of soft greens,
browns, and blues and some yellows, and reds. Example: The last page at Ruth’s
Grandma’s house you can see all the colors being used.

Texture: There is a lot of texture in the illustrations from the eraser medium used.
Example: On all the pages there is a sepia-like quality that makes it look as if you are
looking at old colored photos.

Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space and
all pages the same or different). (3)
The illustrations take up both pages throughout the book. No borders, white or dark
space used. Each page has amazing illustrations that captivate the reader’s attention.
Child Development Theory: Choose either Piaget, Erickson or Social Emotional to
describe the connection to the book Chose 1 only (5 points)
Emotional Development:
Identify the age: 7-11
Explain the social development for this age and how the book relates to the emotional
level you chose:
I chose the emotional development stage 7-11 years-old for this book. Children at this
stage begin to have self-conscious emotions and feel shame when failing to meet
adults’ standards or have internal guilt from failing to measure up. Example: “Why
don’t they want our business? Wasn’t our money just the same?” It hurt my feelings
to be so unwelcome.” Ruth feels shame that her family does not measure up because
of the color of their skin.

1 would not recommend 2 average 3 highly recommended

Your rating of the book: 3

Why?
I would highly recommend this book to everyone, not just children. This was my first
time reading this book and wow, I cried like a baby. It spoke truths of racial injustices
African Americans had to endure decades after the emancipation proclamation and
thirteenth amendment. The captivating illustrations set you back in time. This is such
an amazing historical fiction book!