How to start a book club for kids

How many, and how often

Four to eight children is a club where everyone talks; ten to twelve still works with a grown-up keeping the turns. A classroom of thirty splits into reading groups of five or six, each with its own book. Every two weeks is a pace children keep: long enough to finish a book, short enough that nobody forgets the club exists. For children under seven, meet weekly and read the book together at the meeting.

Choosing the book

One book for everyone is the easiest club to run, as long as everyone can read it. Pick it at the level of the weaker readers, or give each child a story of the same kind (a fable, a fairy tale, a myth) at their own level, and talk about what that kind of story does. When the group is too mixed for one book, let each child read their own and meet about a shared question. Books by level and the kids' book lists do the finding; the three-question picker is a fair way to let children choose.

The first meeting (about 45 minutes)

1. Five minutes: names, a snack, and the club's one rule (everyone gets a turn; nobody spoils the ending for someone still reading).
2. Ten minutes: a round of “one thing I liked, one thing I didn't”. Go first yourself, briefly.
3. Fifteen minutes: two or three open questions. Why did the character do that? Would you have? What would you change?
4. Ten minutes: make something. Draw the setting, act out one scene, or design a new cover in your own drawing.
5. Five minutes: choose the next book and hand out the chart.

Keeping it going

A shared challenge gives the weeks between meetings a shape: Winter Break over the holidays, Book Bingo for a club that wants variety, 100 Books for little ones over a year. Put the charts on a wall; children like seeing each other's fill, and nobody needs a ranking. Print the sign-up sheet and the class log to keep track.

What to skip

• Grading the discussion. A club is the one place reading is not marked.
• Prizes for the most books. They reward speed and short books; a certificate at a finish line everyone can reach rewards finishing.
• Minute logs for children under eight. Count books, or days with reading; a timer turns a story into a chore.
• Quizzes that check the child read it. Open questions do that job and start a conversation instead.