What would school be without a book report? They don't have to be those boring summaries we copied off the backs of the books though. They can be geared toward any type of kid, any hobby, and they can be different every time. I like to assign book report projects. I let my children choose a project that is suitable to the book, and only require them to do something different each time. Here is a quick list of book report projects to get you started.

1. Make a diorama. Take any old box you have around and build a scene from the book. Use toys, clay, grass, dirt, whatever is handy to build the scenery, and of course, draw or paint the background. Then write a short paragraph or two or three telling about this scene.

2. Turn the book, or part of the book into a puppet show. Make the puppets yourself, use ones you have, or use dolls. (See my article on raising kids who love to read for inexpensive ideas on puppets and theaters.) Write a script and enlist helpers. Then put on the show for family and friends. Don't forget the popcorn!

3. Act out a scene from the book. Write the script and put on a show using easy costumes or signs around the neck to identify characters.

4. Do a monologue. Pretend to be a character from the book. Tell the story. You can do this aloud or on paper. If you pick someone other than the main character, you may find the story looks different from your eyes than it does to the main character. After all, the bad guy might not see himself as being so bad!

5. Scan a chapter into your computer and then make illustrations for it. Remember that the characters need to look the same in every scene and have to wear the same clothes unless they have changed them. After you finish, write or tell what you learned about being an illustrator. Read some books or articles on illustrators to learn more about their jobs.

6. Write a new ending for the story, or add an extra chapter. This is especially good if you hated the ending. Remember, you have to use a similar style and the ending has to make sense with the rest of the story.

7. If the story involves travel, map out the journey with illustrations of what happened there.

8. If the story takes place in another country, learn about that country. Prepare a meal the characters might have eaten or demonstrate some traditions.

9. Try doing a series of newspaper articles or television news stories on the book. This is especially good for non-fiction books. You can even videotape the reports.

10. Make a mural showing scenes from the book with captions to show us what the picture is about.

11. Do a report on the author.

12. Read several books by the same author and do a comparison and contrast. Are their certain types of stories he likes to write? Are there lessons he likes to teach? Does he prefer to write in first or third person?

13. Read several novels about the same characters. Did the author have the characters grow or change throughout the books? What were they like in the first book? What were they like in the last book? In what ways are they the same? In what ways are they different? What events in the books caused the changes to happen?

14. Read a book about an inventor or scientist. Try doing some of their experiments or using some of their inventions. Try creating your own experiments or making your own inventions.

15. For older children: Try writing a child's version of a book you like. What elements of the story will you leave out? How will you simplify the story? Be sure to decide in advance what age you are writing for.

16. Try creating quizzes or games based on popular books. Warning: Games are really hard. We did this a few years ago. It's hard to make a game that is not boring and that lasts the right amount of time. We had to keep playing the games and making changes. We also found it hard to write clear directions. It's extremely educational, though, and interesting. You can put your quiz on flash cards. Would your library be interested in having a copy of your game donated to them?

17. Create a web site with reviews of your favorite books. A book review is a little different from a book report, but you can put either kind on your page.

18. Think of five things going on in your world-pollution, racism and so on, and decide how the characters in your book would react to them. This is a way of doing a character analysis. Remember that you have to really understand the character to be sure this is how they would really react. Think about the way the main characters are the same and different. They won't all have the same reaction.

19. In a variation on the last idea, read a book that takes place in the past. Pretend your characters have found or built a time machine and come to visit you. Write a journal of their reactions to your world. You can have several of them take turns making entries.

20. Read a book about a place. Pretend you work for the tourism bureau of that place. Create ads and commercials to get people to come to that place. Look at some web sites put together by places to get ideas. How would you create a campaign for your own city?