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Description:
Just like watching movie trailers, there are plenty of methods of previewing a book that can let you know what the content will be like before diving in. We'll learn about some of those today, and ensure that you never ever have to read a book about creepy spiders again...unless you're into that sort of thing. Yugh.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Coop and Dino singing]
- 00:13
Sometimes, it’s a good idea to know what you’re getting yourself into… [Boy jumps into a swimming pool]
- 00:17
Dip your toes into the pool…
- 00:18
Watch a movie trailer…
- 00:20
Taste test your cooking…especially if you're making brownies…yum… [Girl baking brownies]
Full Transcript
- 00:24
And always – always - preview a text before you start reading it.
- 00:28
Previewing a text can help prepare you for what to expect [Coop discussing why previewing a text is important]
- 00:31
from a book and how you want to approach it.
- 00:33
Which sounds pretty darn important, if you ask us.
- 00:35
And when you first get a text, there are several common things you should look at to get a
- 00:40
good sense of what it’s about.
- 00:42
First, look at the title. We know, we know, groundbreaking stuff. But it’s worth mentioning,
- 00:46
because the title is often your first insight into what a book’s about, particularly if [Selection of books on a shelf]
- 00:51
the book is non-fiction.
- 00:53
Those tend to have titles like…
- 00:55
… The Last Battle of the Revolutionary War…
- 00:57
Or, Abraham Lincoln: This Guy Was a President.
- 01:00
Fiction can also have titles that give you clues about the story, but sometimes, things [Dino discussing fiction titles]
- 01:04
can get a little trickier. For instance, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- 01:08
is not a how-to manual for hunting songbirds.
- 01:11
Want another clue? Check out the author.
- 01:14
Sometimes, the author will be someone you’ve already heard of, like [Harry Potter book on a table]
- 01:16
J.K. Rowling or J.R.R. Tolkien, or somebody else whose name starts with a J…
- 01:21
But even if the author isn’t someone you immediately recognize, often, an author biography [Hand grabs Daddy Longlegs book]
- 01:26
will be included in the book, usually at the end or on the back cover.
- 01:29
This biography can also give you clues about what you’re going to be reading. [R. Aknid authors biography]
- 01:32
If the biography mentions that the author is a spider expert, the book is probably going to be about spiders.
- 01:37
Which is a great sign for all you arachnophobes out there to put it back on the shelf. [Boy reading a book and runs away screaming]
- 01:41
Especially if it’s a picture book… Yikes.
- 01:44
Speaking of pictures… Those are also a great resource for previewing a text.
- 01:48
Conveniently, most books have pictures on the cover. [Examples of pictures shown on book covers]
- 01:51
Magazines and newspapers usually have a photo on the front…
- 01:54
… and they’ll often have pictures inside, as well.
- 01:56
Another thing to look at is the structure of the text.
- 01:59
Are there chapter headings?
- 02:00
Footnotes?
- 02:01
Is there a bibliography or an index?
- 02:03
All those things have sweet, sweet information inside, just waiting to be harvested. [Examples of text structure and a bee lands on the paper]
- 02:08
And, if all that fails and the book is still a total mystery… just go ahead and read
- 02:12
the thing.
- 02:13
Even if you don’t like it… you can just return it to the library without hurting anybody’s [Girl turns over Harry Potter book to JK Rowling]
- 02:17
feelings. Easy peasy.
- 02:18
Unless of course, it's that spider book and you set it on fire… [Man throws spider book onto a fire]
- 02:22
Not that…we did that…*cough*
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