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Reading Challenge 2027 for Kids: a Year of Books, 1 January – 31 December
Read through 2027: 52 books if you are 5 to 7 (a book a week, and read-alouds count), 30 if you are 8 to 10, and 20 longer books from 11 up. Every book puts a spine on the year's shelf, and each month has a kind of book to try.
The rules
How many books to the finish line depends on how old the reader is:
- 5 to 7 (about kindergarten to 2nd grade): 52 books
- 8 to 10 (about 3rd to 5th grade): 30 books
- 11 and up (about 6th grade and up): 20 books
What counts. Any book read from start to finish: a Peabody story, a library book, a book from home, a chapter book finished over weeks. For readers 5 to 7, a book read aloud to them counts, and a favourite read again on another day counts again.
The finish. The last spine fills the year's shelf, and the certificate is yours to print. Never for part of the way.
Who it is for. Readers 5 to 18 and the families, classes and clubs who read along. A book a week is a lot for a busy family: the ages above are set so most readers finish.
The tracker opens for logging on the first day. You can start it now, pick a reader and print the chart for the fridge.
A kind of book to try each month
A suggestion, never a rule: any book counts every month.
- January: snow, rain or wind (a cold month for a warm one)
- February: a book about friends (the month for friends)
- March: a true book (reading month: something new)
- April: a funny book (for the April fool in everyone)
- May: a book about animals (as the garden wakes up)
- June: an adventure (the start of the long days)
- July: water: a sea, a river or a pond (for the beach or the pool)
- August: a story at night (for the last of the summer nights)
- September: a book about school (back to school)
- October: a monster or a giant (the spooky month)
- November: a myth or a legend (for the long evenings)
- December: a book read aloud to someone (for reading together)
How the tracker works
- Pick your animal. Brothers and sisters each pick their own, up to six on one device, and nobody types a name.
- Tap Log a book and tap the book: a Peabody story at your level, a book from one of Peabody's kids' lists, a book from a series, or, with a grown-up, a book from somewhere else.
- Watch the picture fill. Read on more than one day in a row and the dots show your streak.
- Print the chart or your log at any time. The certificate lights up at the finish line, and only there.
Everything is kept on this device. Nothing a child logs is sent anywhere: Peabody counts that a book was logged in this challenge, and nothing about the book or the reader.
More challenges
- Winter Break19 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027Starts in 37 days
- January1 Jan 2027 – 31 Jan 2027Starts in 50 days
- Summer1 Jun 2027 – 31 Aug 2027Starts in 201 days
- 100 BooksAny time, no end date
- Book BingoAny time, no end date
- Series ChallengeAny time, no end date
- Read-Aloud 20Any time, no end date
- A Thousand Read-AloudsAny time, no end date
Running this with a class or a club? Print the class wall chart (thirty readers, ten squares each) for the classroom version; the leaders' page has the sign-up sheet and the class log. Need a book? What should I read next asks three questions.