- Perhaps, you have read many reviews when searching for a good movie or a book to read. Some reviews seem really bad because they either kill the intrigue or don’t intrigue at all. Are there any guides and tips that can help you write a perfect review or at least make it decent? Is there something that tells how to write a book review for kids? Children need detailed explanations. Otherwise, they risk failing the task. If you need childish explanations on how to create a stunning book review, read this article.
How to Start or Getting Ready to Write
How to write a book review for kids without having read the book itself? Nohow. Eventually, the first thing you should do is to read the book. If your task is to prepare a detailed review, it will be necessary to read it twice.
The first reading will let you get acquainted with the plot of the story.
The second reading promises a closer look at details that you might have missed during the first reading. Due to that, you will be able to provide the required details when describing the main characters, events, or things that convey the atmosphere of pain/love/terror, etc. Besides, you can use bookmarks that allow you to underline things you might later introduce in your book review.
So, writing a review for kids without reading the book itself is impossible. This step is the first in the book review writing.
Retelling the Plot of the Story As the Next Step
The first thing every reader expects to see when reading a book review is the plot of the story. However, you should be careful when writing this part of the review. Your task is to retell the plot without saying too much about the final episode. In other words, you should tell the story the way to make someone read it. Consequently, it must be brief but catchy. It’s better not to describe the most fascinating scenes or the climax (maybe, just a hint) because it will kill the desire to read a book after your review.
What Is the Genre of the Book?
Each review must inform about the genre of the book you are writing about. The main genres you may deal with are the following:
- adventure
- art
- children’s
- science fiction
- history
- fantasy
- mystery
- horror
- thriller
- western
- dystopian
- love story
Why is it significant? When people read a review, they want to learn what to expect. Moreover, you should highlight the tools a writer used to keep to the introduced style. Besides you can also mention the type of people who might like this book. For example, you can mention their age, profession, or cultural identity.
Speak About the Book Title
Sometimes, the title of the book seems not to match the plot and idea of the book. Your task is to give a hint trying to convey the meaning of the title or its weirdness. You can also suggest your variant of the title that might be more interesting and hooky or not so long or short.
Enlist the Main Characters and Name Your Favorite One
How to write a review for kids to make it mesmerizing? It’s necessary to write about the main characters and mention some minor characters, including their likes, dislikes, and personal contributions. For example, some secondary characters can be the key to the main character’s transformation.
Another trick you may use is to parallel oneself with one of the characters. For example, your favorite character might be the one with the same hobby, appearance, or life experience. Logically, such similarities make you feel closer to the described character.
Speaking about the types of characters, they can be:
- protagonists or the main characters
- antagonists or the rivals of the main characters (for example, Harry Potter – Voldemort)
- static or the ones who don’t change throughout the story
- dynamic or the ones who change throughout the story
- round or the ones with a complex personality or depth
- deuteragonists or of the second importance after the main character like Ron and Hermione in “Harry Potter”
- foil characters who are used for the contrast (like the good and the bad siblings)
The Most Favorite and the Least Favorite Parts
What is a book review for kids? It is a brief retelling of what is going on in the book and your personal attitude to the described things. Eventually, you should say what parts of the book were the most impressive and what made you feel bored, scared, or evoked other negative emotions.
However, you should not provide a detailed description of these parts so as not to kill the intrigue. Instead of giving details, you can recall your emotions and introduce them regarding some things.
For example, “I enjoyed the part when Harry used his powers outside Hogwarts for the first time. It was funny to see the reaction of his family. I was happy for Harry, who managed to protect himself and the memories of his dead parents”.
Or, “The most boring part of the book was the description of the deep forest. It was too long and lacked action, so I was glad when it finally came to an end”.
Things You Would Like to Change in a Book
A book review is a discussion of its pros and cons. Nobody wants to change positive and hooky moments in the story, but many people want to read less gloomy and dull pages. Ask yourself about the least favorite parts or characters that irritated you while reading a book. Here is a list of questions that might help you in writing a book review for kids.
Question Things to write Is there anything you would like to change in the appearance or the behavior of the main character, antagonists, or deuteragonists? Today, many viewers complain concerning the book adaptations by Netflix. They dislike Afro-American mermaids or the homosexuality of the characters that used to have traditional sexual orientations in the book. You can also point to appearance or behavioral patterns you would like to change in the characters of the chosen book. Would you like to change the ending of the story or its beginning? It often happens that a good book bothers readers with a monotonous introduction that kills the desire to continue reading. Another thing is when the book is great, but the final part disappoints. What would you change being in the author’s shoes? Is there anything to improve in the setting or the chosen country? Sometimes, authors sound too stereotypic about the described countries or characters that come from a concrete country. You can suggest erasing such stereotypic descriptions and suggest the improvement to make a book more neutral regarding nationalities, races, and cultures. What would you like to change in the book cover, their illustrations, or the book lengths? Some stories seem too long or hard to read because there are no illustrations or the size of the font is too small. Moreover, the book cover also matters. If it doesn’t convey the atmosphere of the book, a person might be reluctant to read it. So, your task is to suggest changes or underline the right choice. Would You Recommend This Book to Another Person?
When kids write book reviews, they usually miss this part or write, “I’d recommend this book to others just because I liked it,” or something like that. In this part, you should stress the benefits of the book or its downsides.
If you want to recommend this book to others, you should highlight the best parts, the choice of characters, or the main idea, but without diving into too many details and giving the outcome of the story.
If you disliked the book, you can introduce its negative parts and suggest things that could make this book interesting to you and your like-minded people. Another variant is to write about people who might like this book. For example, if you dislike Western, people who are mesmerized by guns, the Wild West, and cowboys might like it and even add it to the collection of the best Westerns.
Speak About the Uniqueness
Is the book unique? Does it sound original? Mainstreams rule the word, but some writers were the first to write about the cosmos, magic schools, life on Mars, etc. For example, “Harry Potter” was and remains adorable because it’s hard to find similar books. Even if you find one, it can hardly surpass the masterpiece by J.K. Rawling.
Takeaways or Some More Tips
How to write a book review kids would definitely like? You can make it more up-to-date by using social media. For example, you can twit or find a public where people leave reviews and comments on various books. Together, you can discuss details and practice reviewing. The main thing to remember is to avoid detailed retelling. Details are better for a description of a character’s appearance or a single episode, but not the final one to preserve the intrigue. Your job is to inform but do it the way to inspire a reader to buy and read a book because reviewing resembles advertising.
