Comparisons

Can you think of a book with a similar theme? Can you think of a book which starts the same way?

Does the main character remind you of anyone? Who? Why? Have you ever had a similar experience?

Have you read another book by this author? In what way are the books similar? Is the fictional setting realistic? Have you been somewhere similar before?

Can you think of another story with similar writing techniques? Compare two of your favourite characters. How are they similar?

Have you read a book with a similar plot? Compare and contrast the story opener with the end of the book.

How has the main character changed from the start to the end of the story? Choose two characters. How has their relationship developed throughout the story?

Identify the metaphors, why were they used? Can you come up with your own ? What caused the character to make this decision? What would you have done?

Compare the personality of any two characters? Can you think of another story, which deals with similar issues?

Does the authors writing style, remind you of another author? Who? Why? If you were writing your own opener, what ideas would you borrow from this story.

Understanding

Who is telling the story? Which parts of the story describe the setting?

Identify the plot. What do you think is the moral of the story?

Which character has been the most affected by the turn of events? Why? Describe the main character.

How did the story start? How did the story end?

Find a word you don’t understand. Now replace it with a simpler word, so the sentence still makes sense. What do you know about the story so far?

Which is your favourite part of the story? What do we know about the story so far?

What problems is the main character facing. How was the problem/issue resolved?

What did you learn by reading this book? In your opinion which is the most important part of the story?

How do you feel about the novel? What does it remind you of? Is there anything you would change in the plot?

Questions

By looking at the front cover, what questions do you have about the book? Questions Can you think of two questions you would ask the author about this novel?

If you could ask the main character a question what would it be? Why? Questions After reading the novel, are there still any unanswered questions you have?

What questions could you ask about the plot? Questions In your opinion, what would be the most important question to ask the main character?

What would you ask the author to try and challenge their style of writing? Questions If you could ask the illustrator one question, what would it be?

Is there something about the novel that you do not understand? Questions If you could chose any character to be put on trial who would it be? What would you ask them?

Are there any questions that you have about how the novel ended? Questions Are there certain elements of the novel that do not make sense to you?

What would you ask the author to try and challenge their style of writing? Questions If you could ask the illustrator one question, what would it be?

If you had to act out the role of the main character, what would you want to know more about? Questions If you had to act out the role of a minor character, what would you want to know more about?

If you were given the chance to interview the author, what would you ask him/her? Questions After reading the first chapter, what types of questions do you think the author is wanting you to ask?

Inferring

Why did you choose this book? What do you think it is about? Predict what might happen next. What has happened to make you think this?

Why do you think the author wrote the book? What was their purpose? Why do you think the author chose this setting?

Describe two of the characters feelings towards each other. Which part of the novel shows this? How has the author shown characters feelings through his writing ?

What are two emotions that the main character has felt? What happened to make the character feel this way? Where and when is the story set? How do you know?

Which part of the story do you think the main character is feeling extremely happy? How do you know? Which part of the story do you think the main character is feeling extremely sad? How do you know?

What could a character be doing to show that they are scared? What could a character be doing to show that they are angry?

Identify a sentence in the novel, which infers how a character is feeling. Why do you think the author wrote this novel?

What sort of personality does the villain have? How do you know? By looking at the cover, what sort of person could the main character be?

Why do you think the character reacted the way he/she did? What expression does the author use to show how she feels about the main character?

? What expression does the author use to show his/her disapproval of a character