Here Comes the Book Truck! 

Are you looking for new ways to introduce your students to new genres or new choices of books? Why not hold a book-tasting event in your classroom! This event will get your students motivated and excited about reading! Hold this event during Book Week, or make it an evening event for parents to sample new books with their children.

What Is a Book Tasting?

A book tasting is an interactive and engaging way to introduce readers to new books and genres. It is typically organised as a literary event where readers can sample different books in a particular genre or theme.

Readers are given a small selection of books to preview during a book tasting, usually organised into different courses or stations, with each book ‘served’ as a sample. Participants can browse the books, read a few pages and get a feel for the writing style, plot and characters, all within a fun ‘Food Truck’ atmosphere.

How to Prepare for the Book Truck Book Tasting Event

The great thing about this activity is that you can go as big or small as you like! A fun atmosphere and unique decor are great ways to excite readers about the event and the new books they ‘taste.’ ‘Here are a few ideas to get you started

• Hang the Book Truck event sign outside your door before your students arrive. 
• Decorate! Inexpensive tablecloths, streamers, fun lighting and music are great ways to transform your classroom and set the stage for your students to taste all the new books. 
• Place table tents around the room on small groups of desks or tables, along with a trifold book review menu and a book boat template for each student. You could even add a small snack to their book boat for them to enjoy during the event.
• Stock each genre station with 5-6 different books for students to check out and review while they visit.
• Have students decorate and assemble their book boats. They will use these to carry their menu, pencil, and writing utensils to the different stations. (Or, you could have these prepped before you start the day to add to the atmosphere).
• Students will start the book tasting by choosing three book-truck tasting stations to visit. They will then spend 10-15 minutes visiting each of their selected stations to look at new books, read a bit of the story, and write their overall impressions of the books they chose.

Download and Print To Get Started!

Use the dropdown arrow on the Download button to select between the black-and-white or the full-colour version of the pack.

Please note that the tasting menu and the book boat are black-and-white files in both packs.

We recommend printing your table tents and door sign in colour if possible. Please note that the tasting menu and the book boat are black-and-white files in both packs.

As this pack contains both portrait and landscape pages, be sure to select ‘Auto’ for the page orientation on your printer.

This resource was created by Katy Blevins, a Teach Starter collaborator.