Reading log for kids (free, printable)

A reading log is a simple record of what a child reads: the title, how much, and how it felt. At its best it is something a child is proud of, a page that fills up with stories they chose, not a form a grown-up nags about. The National Curriculum in England wants children to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, and a log is one of the easiest ways to make that habit visible to the child as well as to you.

Pick the layout that suits your child. The weekly log has a row for each day, Monday to Sunday, with the minutes added up at the bottom. It suits KS1 children and anyone building a routine, because a short entry every day is easy to keep going. The books list has a row for each book, with stars and a line to remember it by. It suits confident KS2 readers whose books take more than a week to finish, when a daily row would say the same title seven times. If your child’s school asks a grown-up to sign each entry, switch on the column for a grown-up’s initials.

Count everything. Picture books, comics, poems, joke books, non-fiction about sharks, a recipe followed together and a story read aloud at bedtime all belong in the log. In Litsee’s view, being read to counts too, especially in KS1, because listening to stories that are harder than a child can read alone builds the vocabulary they will need later. A log that only accepts reading-scheme books tells a child that the reading they choose for themselves does not matter, which is the opposite of what you want.

Keep it light. Let your child write the entries, even if the spelling wanders, and keep each one to a few words: the title, the pages or chapter, a face or a word for how it felt. If the minutes column turns into a race, hide it under a blank strip when you print, or use the books list instead. If filling in the log has become a battle, cut it down to one line a day for a week and see whether the reading itself feels better. The reading matters far more than the record.

Using the log above is simple. Choose a layout, type in what your child read, and press “Print my log” for an A4 sheet with your entries on it. To print an empty log to keep by the bed or in a book bag, press “Print a blank log”. Nothing you type is saved, stored or sent anywhere, so print the sheet, or choose “Save as PDF” in your browser’s print window, before you close the page.

In class, print blank weekly logs for book bags at the start of each half term, or stick a blank books list inside the back cover of each child’s reading record. At the end of a half term, ask children to choose one book from their log to recommend to a friend, and use the book review templates for KS1 or KS2 to write it up. The reading challenge bingo card works well alongside the log when you want children to try books they would not usually pick.