Canton Public Library

Reading book reviews are a great way to find new titles to read, but have you ever considered writing them yourself? Sharing your critiques and compliments of books are a great way to help others evaluate whether they’re worth reading or not. Glowing reviews also help great books that just don’t happen to have a lot of marketing going into their publications, get more attention.

Anyone can write a book review, but there is an art to writing a good one that really tells others if a book is a good fit for them. Good book reviews are not too long, but at the same time get at what struck you most about the book. Book review readers want to know more than that you enjoyed it and would recommend it. You want to summarize the main themes of the book and pick out what you thought stood out to you the most (and whether it was good or bad). Compare it to other similar books.

Get some more ideas on how to format your book reviews here:

BOOK RIOT's "How to Write a Book Review"

Grammarly's "How to Write a Book Review"

What are some places you can share your book reviews?

The most common book review websites are Amazon.com and Goodreads.com, but who says you have to only leave your book reviews on sites people go to looking for reviews? Why not post them on Facebook or Instagram and see what your friends think? Maybe they’ll have some book review recommendations to give back to you!

Head back to 62 Days of Summer for more ways to participate in the summer program!

It’s been well established that children benefit from being read to by the adults in their lives. It helps them build stronger vocabularies, increase attention span, improves cognition, and it promotes bonding. Brain scans have shown that hearing stories strengthens the part of the brain associated with visual imagery, story comprehension, and word meaning.

Once children become fluid readers, they can still benefit from being read to regularly, but they can also gain from doing the reading aloud themselves. It’s a wonderful activity to read with a parent, but why just leave it there? Sharing a story with someone is a great way to stay connected and get your reading practice in.

Who are some other people kids can read to?

Grandparents

Friends

Siblings

Pets

What should you read though? Some books work better than others read out loud, but for kids reading something they’re already familiar with will give them a reading confidence boost. They’ll also enjoy reading books that they’ve already had read to them.

And if you’re looking for ideas, here are Scholastic’s 100 Best Read-Aloud Books.