There is a difference between a book report and a book review which everybody should know prior to writing any of these. They are not the same although there are some similarities. A lot of students mix them up turning in reports when reviews are requested and vice versa. Book reports are all about explaining topical details and the storyline of the book. Those writing this type of assignment are to present biographical information about the author of the book (year of birth, marital status, his/her education and worldview, etc.). After the biographical information, there should go a brief summary of the book content – the main characters and the development of the plot.
Did you have any associations coming to your mind when you were reading the story?
This form of book reports allows exploring the themes and big ideas that are interwoven within the entire story. You can simply choose a theme that seems to be the most important or the one you like the most and try to bring some of your thoughts to highlight the topic.
Book reports can be of different types and formats. Most common forms of book reports are plot summaries, theme and character analysis. This type of assignment will help you practice expressing your own opinion about different aspects of the text and eventually expressing your thoughts on pretty much any subject in future. But no matter what type of book report you are about to write, there are some common things you have to include into your paper:
How to Write a Good Book Report
Do you think that the author could have come up with a better solution (if there is one)?
This type of book report assumes one has to explain own opinions about the plot and why he/she believes so. Your purpose should be to describe and characterize the plot and back up your opinions by some examples from the book.
Here you can explore the traits of the main characters and how they affect the development of the plot in the book. There are many things you can pay attention to when analyzing the characters, such as clothing, moral flaws, dialogues, actions, etc.
- Write the first draft of the book report
- Prepare the introductory paragraph of the report
- Read the book, gather the book details and make its summary
- Write the main part of the book report
A book report is an informative piece of writing that summarizes the book and presents some brief analysis of its main elements like plot, setting, characters, tone, and background of the story. The choice could be either a work of fiction or a nonfiction book.
Picking and choosing the right book is as important as writing your book report. In some cases, the teacher gives the book himself and you have no choice in it. However, if you have the freedom to choose the book yourself then choose the one that you know you could handle properly.
Basic ideas include presenting your narrative and analysis in simple written and file form while more creative ideas include a fun element.
Book Report Format
How to write a book report for college and high school level? Follow the same steps because the outline and format stay the same only the book and the added details will be different.
Everyone has different preferences about the genres of books and when given the freedom to choose, choose the type of book that interests you.
When writing a book report, it is important that you take care of some important things. No matter how great your essay is, if it is not what the instructor has asked for, it is not going to gain you any good grades.
An outline is important for a good and strong book report. When making the outline, make sure that you add all the important points to it. An outline helps the writer stay organized and focused on the points and content that he is working on.
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We’ve been using my in depth book report I shared last year. But I decided we need some shorter to the point book reports that my kids could easily use more often as they were shorter and to the point. I find book reports do such a good job of helping them retain what they read, process what they read, and practice writing.
There are two different styles of lines in the download to accommodate both younger elementary and middle school students. Both styles of the free book report include the following:
Don’t miss all our free first grade worksheets and our other printable worksheets for prek-12th grade students. We have free printable math worksheets, english worksheets, history for kids, cool science experiments, and even fun activities for kids to go with every season and holiday throughout the year!
Free Book Reports
Looking for other ways to help kids work on reading comprehension and summarizing a book they read? Try these free resources:
Start by scrolling to the bottom of the post, under the terms of use, enter your information in the box and click download. If you are a current subscriber, it will confirm you are on our list and you will immediately be redirected to download the pdf file. If you are a new reader, WELCOME! By entering your email address you are signing up for our free weekly newsletter filled with lots of free worksheets, educational games and activities to help make learning fun for Pre k – 8th grade students. You will also get instant access to the freebie so don’t close or navigate away from this page.
This book report form is great for Kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, and grade 6 students.
If you are looking for some book recommendations to help kids pick really great books they will love to read, don’t miss these book lists!
The last free book report template is in a block format and is fairly condensed. Remember how I said that these book report templates weren’t just for kids? Well, this is what I had in mind—you could use this printable as a way to keep either a book journal for your own personal growth or to organize your thoughts for a book club.
Remember book reports? Even if you were a total bookworm, they could be tricky, right? You had to figure out exactly what to include and how to concisely convey that information. In fact, even if you always had your nose in a book, book reports were often dreaded, much like your school cafeteria’s meatloaf!
Tip: If your child is going to be jotting down notes while reading, print out multiple copies of this 4th grade book report template. (Again, it works for just about any grade, even high school!). That way they can write as many notes as needed and then go back and refine and perfect their thoughts afterward.
And while they won’t help with your child’s reading and writing skills, these preschool level activities are also educational and fun:
Gray Printable Book Report Template
This 5th grade book report template (or whatever grade you think is suitable) doesn’t have to be only for school. If you want to encourage your child to expand their literary knowledge, you could assign this as home work (get it? 🙂 ). In other words, have your child read a book at home and complete this free book report template.
The benefit of having this book report template 3rd grade (or whatever grade) printable on-hand is that your child can review it before cracking open a book. This means he or she will know exactly what to look for while reading. Spoiler alert: It’s way easier to take notes while reading than to try to remember everything and then write it down after finishing.
Okay, let’s start with the most obvious need for a free book report template—your child has been tasked with reading a book and compiling a report. Whether you’re in need of a high school, 2nd or 5th grade book report template, this first printable will likely do the trick. It’s straightforward without being too shallow and offers plenty of room for their thoughts on the book.
Tip: In fact, you could make it one of their chores! Add reading a book and completing a report to the free printable chore chart for kids to keep your kid accountable. To motivate your child, consider letting him or her pick from a list of books and perhaps assign different point values based on the difficulty of the book they choose!
You have the choice to close and end the report with just the above mentioned part or you can actually complete it with giving a little about the death of the person in case he is deceased or you can also add a conclusion about why you chose that person for this biography report and what inspired you the most about his life and achievements.
Here is preview of another Sample Biography Report Template in MS Word Format.
Before you choose a particular person to write his biography, at least have 8-10 choices and then narrow it down to 2-3 depending on the most interesting facts that you can find about them and the convenience of researching about it. Once you have chosen a specific name, research about him or her on internet and find everything that you think should be added in the biography.
Here is preview of another Sample Biography Report Template in MS Word format.
Start the biography with the basic information about the person:
Here is preview of This First Sample Biography Report Template in MS Word format.
Here is preview of another Sample Biography Report Template in MS Word Format.
Just to make sure that you write an impressive report on someone’s biography, only include the details and information that you want to read in a similar report. This way you will know what to include in the report and what to skip. For a better understanding, take a look below and find some useful guidelines for adding content in Biography Report.
