Reviewing a book in a foreign language seems like an overwhelming task at first - but it's one you can lead your ESL students through by getting them to answer the right questions and respond to the right prompts. By showing them they can do it, you boost their confidence and encourage them to read in English, maybe even when it's not for class.

First, compose your questions and prompts and print them in worksheet form. They should be generic enough to use over and over, for any book. Here's a list that's worked for my classes:

Title:
By:
Who is the hero of the book?
Tell about something that happens in the story:
How do you like the pictures in the book? (Skip this one, of course, if you're not using illustrated books. However, I recommend sticking to adult graded readers, most of which have at least a few pictures.)
What readers is it for?
Would you recommend this book? Why?

You can either grade the students' written responses or let them give oral presentations based on them.

For a less serious book review activity to help everyone lighten up and relax, have students come up with random words to fill the gaps in an "article" like this:

The (1)___________ (2)_____________ , by (3)________________ (4)______________, is a (5)_________________ but (6)____________ novel.
It tells the story of (7)_______________, who grows up in (8)______________ (9)__________________. Her father is a busy (10)__________________ and her mother spends all her time (11)_________________. (12)__________________ is a (13)______________ little girl, and her best friend is a (14)________________.
When she goes to college and meets (15)________________, she learns that life is full of unexpected (16)________________. Later she begins work as a (17)__________________.
This is a (18)___________________ book, but at (19)______________ pages, it's a little too long.

Using either or both of these activities will make English language book reviews a little less intimidating for your students.

Jane Wangersky is an ESL teacher and author. To get a reading for your ESL class right now, visit her site http://eslfreepress.typepad.com/the_esl_dollar_store/, The ESL Dollar Store.