Unbe‘leaf’able Book Review is a creative and collaborative activity designed to celebrate your students’ reading experiences in a fun and visually engaging way. Using leaf-shaped templates, students reflect on a book they’ve read by sharing key details, expressing opinions, and giving a ladybug rating. Once completed, the leaves come together to form a vibrant classroom reading display, perfect for Book Week, literacy rotations, or your ongoing reading program.

This resource supports reading comprehension, critical thinking, and persuasive communication in a format that feels fresh, interactive and connected to nature. With multiple templates and flexible display options, it’s easy to adapt this task to suit students across a range of year levels and abilities.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Promote reading reflection and opinion-sharing through structured templates
• ✅ Support text comprehension by encouraging explanation of book enjoyment
• ✅ Build confidence in writing and verbal expression of book preferences
• ✅ Encourage peer recommendations and shared reading culture
• ✅ Reinforce classroom community through collaborative visual displays

What’s Included:

• 3 x leaf-shaped review templates (available in 24mm, 18mm, and 14mm line spacing)
• Ladybug rating guide (out of five)
• Suitable for Foundation to Year 4 students
• Clear layout with space for book title, author, review and rating

Materials Needed:

• Printed leaf templates (choose preferred line spacing)
• Green cardstock or paper (light enough for legible writing)
• Pencils, crayons or markers
• Scissors and glue
• Optional: string, pegs, branches or paper tree trunk for display

How to Use:

• Print your chosen leaf templates on light green cardstock
• Students select a book they’ve read and complete their leaf by writing the title, author, a short review, and giving a ladybug rating
• Once completed, students cut out their leaf and attach it to a display tree, reading vine, or hanging line
• Use mixed leaf shapes and orientations to create a natural, eye-catching effect
• Extend by inviting students to read and comment on each other’s reviews

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Create a “reading garden” with branches sorted by genre, author, or reading group
• 💡 Use as a literacy rotation task during Book Week or library lessons
• 💡 Incorporate as part of a reading program milestone celebration or review wall

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Let students personalise their experience by decorating their leaves with leaf rubbings, stickers or painted patterns
• 💛 Select the template line spacing that suits your learners; enlarge to A3 for extra space
• 💛 Send students home with their leaves to spark book chats and encourage reading at home

Unbe‘leaf’able Book Review is a joyful and meaningful way to highlight student voices, inspire peer recommendations and turn your classroom into a blooming book forest. It’s unbe‘leaf’ably fun and a perfect celebration of reading!