Recommending Books · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Recommending books you love

English · Reading Comprehension · ages 9-10
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which sentence is the strongest book recommendation?

    • "You should read it, it's good."
    • "It's a mystery about a missing dog, with clues that keep you guessing."
    • "It has 200 pages."

  2. "The cover has gold letters on it" is a reason that tells your friend whether the story will suit them.

    Circle one:   True   False

  3. Which of these gives your friend no real reason to try the book?

    • "It is a survival story, and the two brothers have to fix the boat before the tide turns."
    • "Everyone in my class has read it, so you should read it too."
    • "It is funny in a quiet way, and the jokes are hidden in the pictures."

  4. When recommending a book, which detail helps your friend understand what kind of story it is?

    • The genre
    • The page count
    • The price of the book

  5. Priya recommends a mystery book by saying the clues build slowly and keep readers guessing until the last page. Which feature is she describing?

    • The plot structure
    • The book's cover
    • The number of chapters

  6. Rosa wants to recommend a book to a new classmate she has only just met. Which question should she ask first?

    • "How fast can you read a page?"
    • "What was the last book you really enjoyed, and what did you like about it?"
    • "Do you have a library card?"

  7. Omar liked his last adventure book, but he said the long descriptions of forests made him skip whole pages. Which book fits him best?

    • "Mudlark Summer", where the writer spends a page on every tree by the river
    • "Sixty Steps to the Roof", where the chapters are short and something goes wrong in each one
    • "The Very Slow Train", where a family watches the fields go by for three days

  8. Noor tells Milo, "'The Kettle Pond Detectives' has a map of the whole village in the front, so you will love it." Milo has never mentioned maps to her. What is missing from Noor's reason?

    • The name of the book
    • A link to something Milo actually enjoys
    • The number of pages

  9. Two friends both say they love fantasy, so the same fantasy book will suit them both.

    Circle one:   True   False

  10. Ines has read three books this year and wants to recommend one of them to Cass. How should she decide which one?

    • Pick the longest one, because a long book gives Cass more to read
    • Pick the one Ines finished most recently, because she remembers it best
    • Pick the one whose story fits what Cass already enjoys
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Recommending books you love W1-mt_0MfpLj0Uhb-s1

  1. "It's a mystery about a missing dog, with clues that keep you guessing." · Naming the genre and a specific detail gives your friend a real reason to pick up the book.
  2. False · The cover is the outside of the book. It says nothing about the story inside.
  3. "Everyone in my class has read it, so you should read it too." · How many people have read a book says nothing about the story, so it leaves your friend with nothing to go on.
  4. The genre · The genre tells your friend what kind of story to expect, like mystery or adventure.
  5. The plot structure · Plot structure is how the story is put together, like clues that build slowly toward the end.
  6. "What was the last book you really enjoyed, and what did you like about it?" · Asking what they enjoyed, and what they liked in it, tells Rosa what to look for.
  7. "Sixty Steps to the Roof", where the chapters are short and something goes wrong in each one · Omar skips long descriptions, so short chapters with something happening suit him.
  8. A link to something Milo actually enjoys · Noor names a real detail from the book, but never says why a map would matter to Milo.
  9. False · Genre is only part of a taste, so two fantasy readers can still want very different books.
  10. Pick the one whose story fits what Cass already enjoys · The right book is the one that fits Cass, not the one that is longest or freshest in Ines's memory.
Worksheet · LightMySky