Writing Reviews for Children’s Books by Deanie Humphrys-Dunne
What if you’re a children’s author and you’d like to help fellow writers by submitting reviews? What should you include and how would you evaluate a book for young readers? Here are some elements I think are essential.
- Is the cover appealing and eye-catching? Does it make the book stand out? Is the cover fitting for your genre?
- Did you notice overused words? Unnecessary words? Does every sentence move the story forward? That means, does it serve a purpose, such as building excitement, or revealing important personality traits for your characters?
- Are there spelling or grammar errors?
- Did the author use the proper tenses in the sentences?
- Is the story well-organized so there is a clear beginning, middle, and ending?
- Does the ending fit the story and complete it, or tie up the loose ends?
- Does the book include illustrations that are well-done and age-appropriate? Do the illustrations show the personality of your characters?
- Was there enough conflict to hold a young reader’s interest? If the book doesn’t pique the interest of your target audience, children aren’t likely to continue reading.
If you’ve been able to answer these questions honestly, you could write a detailed assessment of what happened in the book. If you loved it, you’d award it five stars. If you thought it was good, but maybe found a couple of minor things that needed improvement, you’d give it four stars. When you read a children’s book that was just okay, you might give it three stars. Some authors choose not to submit reviews of less than three stars. Be sure your reviews convey your honest opinion because you’re not doing the author a favor by not being candid and misleading them about the quality of their work. Conversely, remember to share what you liked about the book as well. That way, the author may decide to make edits to improve their work.
