Book Report Creative Project

Book Report Creative Project

A creative book report typically presents information about a book—its author, publisher, and a summary of the important elements and themes—in a visually appealing display.

Task 1: Requirements

Make sure you understand what your teacher expects of you. Review all of the information you have about the assignment and verify that you can answer the following questions. If you don’t know, ask your teacher.

When is your creative book report due?

Are you required to report on a specific book?

Did your teacher provide any guidelines regarding your visual display?

Task 2: Select a book

If your teacher didn’t assign a specific book, your first task is to select one.

Choose a book that interests you and complies with any guidelines your teacher provided. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, ask your school librarian, a knowledgeable staff member at a book store, or your public librarian for recommendations.

Task 3: Read the book

Find a quiet place and start reading. As you read, answer the following questions:

What is the setting?

When does the story take place?

Who are the main characters?

What is the plot of the story?

Does the story include a problem or a conflict? How is it resolved?

Does the author use any recurring themes or symbolism? How do these literary devices contribute to the story?

Task 4: Design mockup

Now that you’ve read the book, it’s time to organize your ideas and create a design mockup of your project.

1. Put the title of the book at the top of a sheet of paper, then list the key elements of the story you plan to include in your report. Example:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Setting and time period

Characters

Plot summary

Recurring themes; symbolism

2. Create a design mockup. Make a rough sketch of your project and plan how you’ll convey the key elements visually. Example: You’re required to create poster reporting on the book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. To create a mockup of your poster, you cut a piece of newsprint to match the dimensions of your poster. You divide the newsprint into visual regions, center, top, bottom, left, and right. You decide to use the center region for the book’s title, author, and publication information, then use each remaining visual region to convey one of the key elements about the story.

Task 5: Final display

1. Make a list of the materials you’ll need for your display (pictures from magazines, construction paper, pens, glue, fabric, etc.) and gather them in your workspace.

2. Using your mockup as a guide, create your display. This is your chance to let your creative side take over. You might want to draw on the following rules of thumb about visual presentation, but don’t let convention limit your creativity.

Keep it simple. Cramming too much information into your visual display will detract from your most important information.

Use contrasting colors to make your display more readable. If you’re using light-colored paper, choose a dark color for your graphics and text.

Draw attention to important information by drawing a border around it or using a different background color.

Give your display a professional, polished look by trimming jagged edges, securing loose pieces with glue or double-sided tape, wiping away excess glue, and erasing any pencil guidelines.

Don’t forget to check your spelling.

3. Give your display a final once-over. When you’re sure it represents your best effort,

Hand it in!