Writing a Book Review

What is a book review?

A book review is a short piece of writing that tells other people about a book you have read. It helps your friends decide whether they would enjoy it too. A good review is honest, clear, and gives reasons for your opinion.

Reviews are everywhere — on book covers, websites and library shelves. Now it is your turn to write one!

The parts of a book review

1. The title and author Start by telling the reader the name of the book and who wrote it.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr.

2. A short summary Tell the reader what the book is about — but do not give away the ending! This is called avoiding spoilers. Keep it to two or three sentences.

A hungry tiger knocks on the door and joins a little girl for tea. He eats and drinks everything in the house!

3. Your opinion Now share what you thought. Did you love it? Was it funny, exciting or a little boring?

I really enjoyed this book.

4. Your reasons This is the most important part. Say why you felt that way.

I liked it because the tiger was so silly, and the pictures made me laugh.

5. A rating Give the book a score, like stars out of five. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Use opinion words

These words help you share what you think:

Liked it	Did not like it
exciting, funny, brilliant	boring, slow, confusing
my favourite, gripping	too long, predictable

Always follow an opinion word with the word because and a reason. That turns a weak review into a strong one.

A full example

I read The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr. It is about a tiger who visits a girl and eats all her food. I loved it because the tiger was funny and the pictures were colourful. I would give it five stars and recommend it to anyone who likes silly stories. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Try it yourself

Think of a book you have read. Write a review with all five parts: title and author, summary, opinion, reasons and a star rating. Remember — no spoilers!

To write a clear summary, it helps to spot the most important part of the book using finding the main idea. And to make your opinions flow, join your reasons with words from conjunctions: and, but, because.