What is a book snap?
Essentially, a book snap is about grabbing a short quote from a book and creating a shareable image about it. Typically, people take a quick snap or screenshot (if the text is digital) of something they are reading. Once it is an image, they add to it other images and text, then save and share it. Book snaps can be annotated with text as simple as ‘Love this part!’ or ‘Funny!’ Or the text might be a sentence that summarises a section, a paragraph, a chapter or even a whole book — add an image of the book cover and include the names of the author and illustrator and you have created a BOOK SNAP!
Why a book snap?
Book snaps are fun, and an excellent way to communicate visually. There is a social aspect when students share with each other, as they come across something they notice, like, or make a judgement about. Book snapping is also an opportunity to integrate technology with literature and literacy. It is much faster than writing a book report, but is still an authentic way to respond to text, be an active reader, and potentially read and communicate more. Mrs Martin’s Book Trail in the weekly Woodchatta is an example of a BOOK SNAP!
But what about copyright?
Book covers, illustrations and text are copyright to their creators, and we need to respect that. I am conscientious about my own handling of copyrighted material in my book reviews in Woodchatta. I acknowledge the author and title and, as my purpose is to review, or make a judgement of the work, I consider this to be fair dealing. It is important that we adhere copyright principles. You can find more information at the Australian Copyright Council. You can also read about the special agreement covering libraries and book covers.
Tara Martin is the originator of book snaps. There are a lot of great resources on her page.
