Talking about books

Parts of a bookParts of a book

• There are many aspects of a book that we can talk about

• Think about…– characters– plot– time in which the book

is set

Parts of a bookParts of a book

• What do all books have in common?

A beginning ………………………………………………..

a middle ……………………………………………………………………………….. and an end!

Looking at a bookLooking at a book

The most important vocabulary here is:

1. spine

2. front cover

3. back cover

4. flyleaf

What do we find on the spine of the book?

What do we find on the front cover and on the back cover…?

• The back cover has a summary of the book (sometimes called a “blurb”) and maybe some reviews and comments from other authors and newspapers

What do we find on the front and back covers of books?

The front cover shows the TITLE and the NAME of the AUTHOR

There is often a picture too

Looking at a bookLooking at a book

• A book is made of PAGES

• There are a certain number of pages in a CHAPTER

• The chapters can then form a VOLUME

Different types of booksDifferent types of books

• Do you remember all the different types of films?

• Most of those adjectives can be used for books!

• Let´s refresh our memories…

Different types of booksDifferent types of books

• SCARY

• MAGICAL

• MYSTERY

• ADVENTURE

• HUMOUROUS

• SCIENCE-FICTION

• ROMANTIC

• HISTORICAL

• FANTASY

• FACTUAL

• Which types of books do you prefer?

I prefer… because…

Adjectives to describe booksAdjectives to describe books

• When we read a book, we want to tell other people about it

• Let´s look at some adjectives to describe what we think about books

• Here are some introductory phrases…

– I think the book is…

– In my opinion, this book is…

Adjectives to describe booksAdjectives to describe books

• Interesting

• BORING

• Action-packed

• magical

•GRIPPING

•FASCINATING

•exciting

More phrases to talk about booksMore phrases to talk about books• My favourite character is … because …

• My least favourite character is … because… • I really enjoyed this book because…• I didn´t like this book because…

• The book is about…

• This book kept me on the edge of my seat!• I couldn´t put it down!

Reading booksReading books• Do you like reading books?

Why/why not?

• Reading can be educational, but is also very enjoyable. People often join book clubs where they talk with other people about the books they have read

• Liking reading means that, as long as you have a book to hand, you will never get bored!

Some book expressionsSome book expressions

• Here are some expressions about books

– “bookworm” – “you´re such a bookworm” – you like reading a lot

– “in someone´s bad books” – “you´re in my bad books” – I am angry with you

– “in my book” – “in my book, he´s a nice person” - in my opinion, he´s a nice person

– “don´t judge a book by its cover” – don´t make a judgement about somebody or something based on their appearance

Top 20 books for children

• 1 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C S Lewis• 2 The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle• 3 Famous Five series, Enid Blyton• 4 Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne• 5 The BFG, Roald Dahl• 6 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J K Rowling• 7 The Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton• 8 The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame• 9 Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll• 10 The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson• 11 The Tales of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter• 12 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl• 13 Matilda, Roald Dahl• 14 The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett• 15 The Cat in the Hat, Dr Suess• 16 The Twits, Roald Dahl• 17 Mr Men, Roger Hargreaves• 18 A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens• 19 The Malory Towers Series, Enid Blyton• 20 Peter Pan, J M Barrie

These are the top twenty books for children written in the English language

Have you heard of any of these books or authors?

World Book DayWorld Book Day

• On 23rd April, Spain celebrates Book Day

• The idea first began in Spain, in 1923, when booksellers decided to honour Cervantes. It also coincided with the San Jorge celebrations in Catalonia

• In 1995 UNESCO decided to make this day a world celebration of reading

• Three years later, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair launched World Book Day in Britain. It happens on the first Thursday in March. He gave 1 pound book tokens to every child so that they could buy any book they liked.