A book report is generally just a summary of what you have read, but a lot of people immediately freeze when they have to do one. The thing that everyone has to remember is that a good book report should be informational while showing that the author of the report understands what he or she has read. I have always found that a acim author report is most easily written if you pretend that you are in a discussion with at good friend and you are simply trying to tell him or her everything you know about the book. Once you can do that, all you have to add is some factual information about the author and publication information. If you remember the concept of having a discussion and use the following tips, you should have no trouble writing great book reports no matter what grade you are in.
A good book report shows that you understood the book (it also shows that you read it). Depending on what grade level you are in, teachers expect different things from their students. Quite obviously, a high school teacher is going to expect a much more detailed and thought-oriented paper than a second grade teacher.
Here are some tips to help you or your child get through what might otherwise be a difficult assignment:
• The most important rule for writing a book report is, of course, read the book!
• Before even reading the book, try to guess what the book is about based on the title and pictures. This will help you decide what to focus on while reading the book.
• While reading the book, take notes. If it is your own book (not a library book), feel free to underline important parts.
• When you write your report, have these notes handy or pages that you marked in your books.
• Try to identify the main plot or conflict of the book.
• You do not need to paraphrase the entire book. Instead, you should think of which parts of the book are most important to the plot and central theme. Ask yourself what you would want to know about the book if you had not already read it.
• State the main point of the book. This can be very difficult since there may seem to be more than one main point. Just think to yourself, “Why did the author write the book?”
• Describe the plot of the book and what happens throughout the story.
• Write about the key characters.
• You probably shouldn’t bother to include your personal opinion unless the teacher states otherwise. For instance, you should not say, “I enjoyed this book because…” or “Henry was my favorite character because.” Instead, you can say, “Henry was a very fun and exciting character,” and “This book really gives its readers hope about…”
