What is a book report?
A book review is a written description, study, or presentation summarising and describing the reader’s reading experience.
How do you structure and plan your book report?
There are a few simple steps that can help you introduce writing clear and informative book reports to your children. These include:
- Introduction: Every book report needs an attention-grabbing opening introduction. This paragraph should include all the critical information about the book, including the title, author, genre, and the year it was published. Children might also want to include a comment about why they picked up and read this particular story. For example, is it written by their favorite author or focuses on their favorite hobby or interest?
- Summary: Now is the time to summarize some key events and features of the book. For example, where and when the story is set, the genre, tone, and who narrates the story. Once they have read this paragraph, the reader should have a clear book outline.
- Character evaluation and details: The characters are significant features that make a book a great or terrible reading experience. At this stage of the book report, children can write a paragraph about the main characters in the book. This is an excellent opportunity for students to write about their favorite characters or characters they relate to most.
- Plot event and theme details: The plot is the sequence of events that make up the story or book. The structure, also known as the narrative structure, is the overall layout of a story. The plot picks up on an intentional cause-and-effect relationship between a sequence of events in the narrative. Because the plot is such an important feature of any book, it is essential to writing a good report. Here, students might want to detail the major plot events of the book and discuss their favorite and least favorite moments. For example, what did they think of the ending? Were there any plot twists or events that surprised them?
- Conclusion: Any good report needs a conclusion. This could be a whole paragraph or a couple of sentences; it is up to your writer! The concluding paragraph of a book report is where you summarize the ideas you’ve presented in the analysis and offer your opinion of the novel.
What are the different forms of a book report?
The different forms of book reports differ based on what they are discussing. However, you and your student will create three standard book reports: plot summaries, character analyses, and theme analysis reports. Read on to discover more about these three different formats.
Plot summary: The plot summary book report will focus on the narrative structure they have read. It is an opportunity for children to express an opinion of the book. For example, did they find the book scary or compelling? Funny or intriguing? You can analyze critical points in the story where the plot began, any plot twists, and how well the story concluded. This is also a fantastic opportunity to review and analyze your favorite passages and quotes.
Character analysis: The characters are often what bring a story to life. In a character analysis book report, you can describe and review your favorite or most minor favorite characters and their impact on the story. In this type of report, you can explore the physical and personality traits of characters and how their actions affect the plot of the book.
Theme analysis: Many stories and books we read when we are younger often have huge themes and moral lessons hidden between the lines. A theme analysis book report is an excellent opportunity for your students to explore their favorite themes in a book. Try bringing some of their thoughts and feelings as a reader into the report as a way to show how the theme impacts the story.
