Review - How to Read a Story

How to Read a Story
by Kate Messner
illustrated by Mark Siegel
Date: 2015
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

Step One: Find a story. (A good one.)
Step Two: Find a reading buddy. (Someone nice.)
Step Three: Find a reading spot. (Couches are cozy.)
Now: Begin.

Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel chronicle the process of becoming a reader: from pulling a book off the shelf and finding someone with whom to share a story, to reading aloud, predicting what will happen, and—finally—coming to The End. This picture book playfully and movingly illustrates the idea that the reader who discovers the love of reading finds, at the end, the beginning. Plus, this is a fixed-format version of the book, which looks nearly identical to the print version.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Perhaps this should actually be titled How to Read a Story Aloud. If you're looking for tips on how to read novels while doing your best imitation of a hermit, you'll be disappointed; but if you're looking for a cute manual about reading books out loud with a friend, then this is just the thing.

The illustrations by Mark Siegel are really cute, and tell their own story within the story. The book is laid out in a series of ten steps, with good explanations for each. However, I thought the first few were a little bit mixed up. Step 1 is "Find a story." Step 2 is "Find a reading buddy." I won't spoil Step 3 for you, but moving on to Step 4, we have: "Look at the book's cover." This is so you can figure out what the book might be about. To me, this seemed like something that should've been done at the beginning, perhaps even before Step 1! How are you supposed to choose a book if you haven't even looked at the cover?

Other than that, though, it's a nice little "instruction manual" for kids, and would probably be pretty fun read aloud itself.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5