Book Report Outline & Criteria
As part of your Language Arts program, you will be asked to complete one book report
each month on a novel at your reading level. Outlined below are the steps to completing
these book reports.
1) Read the entire novel, taking special note of the setting, plot, and character development.
You may even want to make short notes as you read the novel to refer to when writing the
actual report.
2) Once you have finished the novel, complete the assignment as outlined below. My advice
is that you have the novel read by about the middle of the month to give you ample time to
finish the written report. The report will be due the last school day of each month.
Report Outline:
Part 1 – Book Jacket/Title Page
 Design a new book jacket or title page for the novel which includes the following:
 Title of the book
 Author’s name
 Illustrator’s name (if applicable)
 Publisher
 Copyright date
 An appropriate illustration that uses the space well and is colored. The
illustration should take up most of the page.
Part 2 – Main Setting

In a descriptive paragraph, describe the main setting of the novel you read. Be sure to
include a detailed description of where and when the novel took place.

The setting—where does the story take place? Is it a real place or an imaginary
one? If the author does not tell you exactly where the story is set, what can you tell
about it from the way it is described?

The time period—is the story set in the present day or in an earlier time period?
Perhaps it is even set in the future! Let your reader know
Part 3 – Main Character(s)
 In paragraph form, describe the main character(s)—who is the story mostly about? Give a
brief description. Often, one character can be singled out as the main character, but some
books will have more than one.
 Be sure to include both physical descriptions (what the character looks like) as
well as personality traits (ie. generous, brave, angry). In your description of
personality traits, you should indicate what in the novel helped you describe the
character in that way.
Part 4 – Plot Summary

The plot—what happens to the main character? WARNING! Be careful here. Do not
fall into the boring trap of reporting every single thing that happens in the story. Pick
only the most important events. Here are some hints on how to do that. First,
explain the situation of the main character as the story opens. Next, identify the
basic plot element of the story--is the main character trying to achieve something or
overcome a particular problem? Thirdly, describe a few of the more important things
that happen to the main character as he/she works toward that goal or solution.
Finally, you might hint at the story's conclusion without completely giving away the
ending. Your summary should be about 1 page in length.
Part 5 – Favorite Part
 On a full piece of blank paper, draw a picture of your favorite part of the story and in
a short paragraph describe what happened. This should be done in a caption
“bubble” on the picture.
Part 6 – Review
 For the final section of your outline, give your reader a sense of the impression the
book made upon you. Ask yourself what the author was trying to achieve and
whether or not he/she achieved it with you. What larger idea does the story
illustrate? How does it do that? How did you feel about the author's style of writing,
the setting, or the mood of the novel? You do not have to limit yourself to these
areas. Pick something that caught your attention, and let your reader know your
personal response to whatever it was. Write a paragraph indicating what you liked
or disliked about the novel you read and why?
Evaluation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Book Jacket / Title Page
Main Setting
Main Character(s)
Summary
Favorite Part
Review
Presentation (neatness, organization)
8. COPS
TOTAL:
012345
012345
012345
012345
012345
012345
012345
012345
/40