Weekly and monthly reading logs for kids, free to print

A weekly reading log is one page for seven days, with the book, how much was read and a place for a grown-up to sign; a monthly log is a calendar page with a square to colour for every day a child reads. Peabody has both, free to print with no sign-up: the weekly reading log and the monthly reading log. Like everything on Peabody, they are free through the end of 2026.

The weekly log

One page, with a row for each day from Monday to Sunday. The columns:

A total line at the bottom adds up the week.

The faces are my favourite part. It is the one column a five-year-old can fill in without help, and it gives a grown-up something to ask about. A child who picks the frown on Thursday is telling you something about the book (too hard, too long, too dull), and that is worth knowing before Friday.

The monthly log

One calendar page of 31 squares. On each day your child reads, they colour the square or write the title in it. At the end of the month they count two things, days read and books finished, and a grown-up signs once at the bottom.

The monthly log is kinder to an uneven week. A child who reads three books on a rainy Saturday and none on a busy Tuesday sees a page that is mostly coloured, rather than a weekly sheet with gaps in it. It counts days, not minutes, so nobody needs a timer.

Which one to pick

Adding a finish line

Neither log has a target printed on it, which suits a family that simply wants a record. If your child wants something to reach, pair the monthly log with the January challenge: a finished book or twenty minutes of reading colours in a day, twenty coloured days out of thirty-one is the finish line, and a missed day simply stays empty. Or keep the weekly log alongside 100 Books, which has a 10 × 10 chart and no end date, so nothing can run out.

Both challenges print their own chart and their own log, with a grown-up's signature column, and a certificate at the finish line and not before. Every challenge is on one page.

On a device, or not at all

The paper logs need nothing but a printer and a pencil. If your child would rather tap a screen, the challenges keep the same record on the device, under an animal face rather than a name, with up to six faces for brothers and sisters. Everything they log stays in that browser.

For the book itself, there are 425 free stories in the library, on 19 reading levels, and any of them can be read aloud on request.

Making it stick

A log works when it lives where the reading happens. A few small things help:

• Keep it with the books. A log on the fridge is easy to forget at bedtime; a log on the shelf by the bed is not.
• Fill it in at the same moment. Straight after the bedtime story, before the light goes off.
• Let the child hold the pencil. The title, the colouring and the face are theirs. The signature is yours.
• Start each month fresh. An empty square from last month does not carry over, and nobody needs to mention it.

Questions parents ask

Is a weekly or a monthly log better for a 1st grader?

The monthly one, usually: colouring a square is something a 1st grader can do alone, and writing a title every day often is not. Move to the weekly log when they can write a short title themselves.

Can I print a few months at once?

Yes, print as many as you like. Nothing on the paper is saved or sent anywhere; the only thing Peabody receives from a print page is a count of which sheet was printed.

Do minutes or pages matter more?

For a record at home, neither. What the log shows is whether reading is happening on most days, and either column shows that. If the school asks for one, use that one.