I have had the great good fortune to be asked to review lots of children’s books over the last few months. I had not written a book review for some considerable time and I realised whilst writing the reviews for the books I had read, how essentially dull writing a review can be.
The exception was when I got tremendously excited about a particular book I had read and then it became much easier to write. Often, however, we expect children to write reviews about many of the books they read and children may find this task dry and unexciting.
How can we make it a more enjoyable learning experience for children ? This is particularly important as the aim has to be to create lifelong readers.
· Ask for something different each time so it is neither boring to write or read. E.g. give it a rating in stars or smiley faces and the next time just talk about the character you might like to meet and then next time make it an advert for the book or a picture of your favourite part of the story. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life.
· Vary the audience- If you have a computerised library system, they quite often have opportunities for book recommendations for other children to use. Or it might be a review for the teachers so they can suggest books for their class, or a sort of what to read next if you liked a particular book.
· Instead of writing book reviews try reading them and see if you agree with the reviewer. Readingzone.com, https://www.primarytimes.net/reviews/book-reviews, and most newspapers.
· Write letters, to parents, friends, teachers about the books and get them to respond with comments and questions.
· Put comments on Twitter– it is easy to link with authors there and they usually respond if you say positive things.
· ENJOY the books!
