Have your child design a book jacket on a cereal box to review the main ideas of a story.

What you’ll need:

  • An empty cereal box
  • White paper to cover the box
  • A pen
  • Art materials such as crayons, markers and paints

Here’s how to do it

Have your child choose a book he has recently read. Explain that he will be designing a new book jacket. Discuss with your child how the book jacket is used to entice the reader and give information about what the book is about.

Using a book from your home as an example, talk about what is included on the front cover, such as an image, the title of the book, the author and illustrator’s name. Point out that the back cover often includes reviews of the book and a summary. Review with your child that a summary is a brief description of the main points of the story.

Have your child cover the cereal box with white paper. On the front of the box have your child write the title of the book and the author’s and or illustrator’s name. Then have him draw a picture for the cover that expresses what the book is about.

On the back of the box have your child write a summary of the book and a short review, which can be as brief as a one-sentence comment.