From the moment we can enjoy a book, we have an opinion on it. Children who are read to, know which books they enjoy and want them read over and over and over again.
As we get older, we learn to verbalise our opinions on books, and once we reach school, we are encouraged to write them down in the form of book review.
There are many specific elements that contribute to making a STRONG book review.
*Hook the reader in, perhaps by asking them questions
*Write a summary of the book that does not give two much of the plot away
*Using quotes from the book is a great way to catch people’s interest
*Make sure your review shares how you feel about the book, and why, and not just what the book is about
Here is a scholastic site you can go to and put your own review online for the world to see.
I also love this spaghetti book club page which includes hundreds of reviews written for children BY children ABOUT children’s books. They all follow a pretty clear pattern making it obvious to young learners what is expected of them.
Here is a book review by F.M. (age 6) and G.M. (age 7)from taken from here.
This book is about a spider. In the beginning he climbs up the waterspout. The water comes down and he gets swished away. He keeps trying to climb up different things, like a yellow pail and a rocking chair, but trouble is always right in front of him. Each time something goes wrong.
This is a fun book to read because there are lots of rhyming words and the pictures are nice and big. At the end of the book is even a place that shows how to play the song on an instrument. We didn’t know the song was so long.
We think this is a perfect story for little children because it is fun and it has rhyming words.
Second Grade, you are now going to work on your own book reviews. Enjoy the examples given to you in class, and remember, you have already been doing this for a long, long time.
the barefoot librarian 