A 2026 UK Parliament report on reading for pleasure cites research in which pupils said they “enjoyed opportunities to read in groups and discuss books with friends”. This guide for teachers explains how to create and run a primary school book club that inspires young readers and helps them to discover the joy of reading.
What is a book club?
Traditionally, a book club is when members pick a book to read together by a specific date. Groups usually meet together once a month to share their thoughts about the book. This model works well in primary schools but can be adapted.
For a primary school book club, pupils might meet weekly, read and discuss the same book, or choose from several books linked by genre and recommend their choices to their peers.
Alternatively, the DFE Reading Framework offers an atypical, but easy-to-implement definition of a book club:
‘Book club is a time to recommend books to pupils for class reading and reading at home. In a primary school, this might be organised at the end of story time, replace a story time, during English lessons or be an additional opportunity to share favourite books’.
The Reading Framework's description of a book club is a little restrictive. The statement used presents the definition as absolute. In truth, this is not what a book club actually is - but it does offer an example of how teachers might run one. There are many different types of book club and primary schools have complete flexibility in how they choose to organise them. The only stipulation for a primary school book club is that pupils are given the opportunity to chat about books.
What are the benefits of a primary school book club?
Book clubs encourage reading for pleasure. The 2026 UK Parliament report on reading for pleasure states:
There is a great deal of compelling evidence on the benefits of reading for pleasure among children and young people. Reading improves academic attainment, mental health and wellbeing, development of empathy and much more.
In a primary school book club, pupils can read a book at their own pace and have the pleasure of discussing it without written follow-up. This more relaxed approach can make reading more appealing while giving pupils opportunities to express their views and develop speaking and listening skills.
What resources are needed for a fun primary school book club?
It may seem obvious to state that the key resources needed for a primary school book club are books, but there is a misconception that other items are necessary. You do not need to buy things such as cushions and bean bags to make book club special. Of course, it's fine to do this, but such things are not needed for the book club to be enjoyable. Supplying refreshments can be a nice touch, but they are not essential. The stars of the show are great books. If you are planning to include food and drinks, consider how you will prevent sticky fingers, crumbs, and spills from damaging the books.
Which children should take part in a primary school book club?
Book clubs can be run with the whole class as described in the DFE Reading Framework. If teachers are planning to run a book club involving a small group, they will need to decide which pupils to target. Teachers might aim for pupils who are reluctant or struggling readers in order to help them approach reading with more enthusiasm. Alternatively, higher ability pupils could be targeted. Teachers could provide them with enticing, challenging book selections which will help them reach their potential. Children of any level benefit from taking part in book clubs. Teachers will need to decide who their focus group is in line with the objectives they wish to achieve.
How can teachers make joining a group book club attractive to pupils?
Having a great choice of books which appeal to pupils is key to creating a fun primary school book club. Teachers should make it clear that the book club is purely about enjoyment and is different from a class reading lesson. Rewards such as stickers or prizes are not needed. Pupils need not be told they can dress up or be told they can do beauty treatments during book club (yes, I have heard about both of these things being offered as means of persuasion!). The books themselves are the reward.
If great books are provided, wanting to read these books will motivate pupils to join. Teachers could show pupils book covers and read blurbs and enticing text extracts to demonstrate what is offer. It is worth remembering that attending book club is a choice. Teachers can try to tempt pupils to come, but obviously they cannot be forced and should not be bribed. If the teacher presents book club as special, lots of pupils will want to attend.
What costs are involved in running a primary school book club? (And how to run one for free!)
There are different types of primary school book club. Some will need to be budgeted for. An example of this is a book club which involves a group of pupils reading the same book - they will need all need copies. Schools could start small with one year group and build up.
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Running a class book club could involve no outlay at all. As described in the Reading Framework, pupils could use class time to recommend books they are reading or have read. This would involve teachers allocating time to discuss existing class or library books. The framework states that:
‘Book club is a space on the timetable – not time squashed in as an afterthought – for teachers to promote books and for pupils to make recommendations to each other.’
Which books are suitable for a primary book club?
Books should be exciting and appeal to pupils' interests. In the 2026 UK Parliament report on reading for pleasure, pupils state:
‘I like graphic novels, audio books, comics, fantasy and adventure books. I like comics because they are not only funny; they are full of images that are bright and colourful. I like adventure books because they take you on journeys that you have never been on. They are full of problems that are waiting to be solved.'
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Badger Learning have also created collections based on popular genres. These are ideal for book clubs in which pupils choose from a range of titles within a genre and share weekly recommendations. Graphic novel, spooky and adventure book clubs, etc. are likely to appeal strongly to pupils.
This format can be more cost-effective than a club in which everyone reads the same book because it does not require multiple copies of each title. It also gives pupils greater choice, allowing them to select books that appeal to them. Click the links below to learn more about these collections.
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How often should a primary school book club meet?
Decide on meeting times and duration. Meetings do not need to last long. A dinnertime or after school meeting which lasts between 20 and 30 minutes is fine for most types of book club. How often the group meets will depend on the length of the books being read. As a year 6 teacher, I once ran a book club for gifted readers which met every 3 weeks to discuss the selected book. This gave pupils time to finish the books as they were quite lengthy. This book club was very easy to organise, the pupils enjoyed it and meetings were easy to fit into a busy school timetable. For a book club which involves members reading shorter books or comic style novels, a shorter time between meetings would be more suitable. In this case, book club members could meet every one or two weeks.
What should happen in book club meetings?
There are no set rules. The key thing is that pupils should have the opportunity to discuss the books being read in the book club. For a book club in which pupils are discussing one book, having a list of questions to discuss is useful. This list could be read by the teacher at first, but later on pupils might progress to running the book chats themselves with the teacher supervising.
Pupils should be taught how to discuss in a respectful manner. This matches the English National Curriculum for objective for KS2 reading which stipulates that children should be taught to:
participate in discussions about books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, building on their own and others’ ideas and challenging views courteously
Some book clubs involve pupils choosing from a selection of books linked to a genre and then recommending them to others during meetings. For these book clubs, at the beginnings of meeting, teachers could ask each pupil to share what they thought about the book they have read before choosing a new book. This should be kept short and simple. It could simply involve pupils using a word to describe what they thought of a book and providing a short summary of what the book was about. Remind pupils to avoid plot spoilers and not reveal the ending during their verbal review.
If you have time for activities beyond discussion, pupils could make bookmarks, design film posters, create artwork, take part in hot-seating, or act out scenes. However, the simplest and most valuable option may be to set aside time for pupils to read independently or listen to the teacher read aloud.
What records should be kept when running a primary school book club?
The writing that pupils are expected to do should be minimal. Book clubs for adults do not involve them writing detailed book reports or reviews. A children's book club should not involve this either. Producing writing based on a book read for book club would detract from the fun and make the club seem like an English lesson. However, if pupils are asked to keep a record of books they have read, this will not be too onerous for them. A list of books that a pupil has read, along with short comment from them or a star rating could be useful for parents to see and help teachers to monitor reading. It might also be satisfying for the pupils themselves to look back at a list of books they have read.
The resources below are available free from Primary Texts. They can be used to help structure book club sessions. Click the links to download.
These could be completed at the beginning of a book club meeting. There is minimal writing involved. Pupils are required to fill in the title of the book, the author, give a star rating and write a word or two or three word comment which sums up their feelings about the book. Pupils could be asked to elaborate on the reasons for their rating and their comments during the book club meeting.
The DFE Reading Framework suggests that pupils recommend books to each other stating: 'Ask pupils to provide a two- or three-word book review and offer them vocabulary suggestions.' This sheet provides tips for pupils giving book recommendations. It helps them to provide sufficient information about the book and their feelings about what they have read without revealing the whole story.
This sheet contains a list of generic questions teachers could use for discussing books. The questions are provided to help discussions. It is not necessary for all of the questions to be used in one session; nor do they need to be asked in any particular order. Teachers should pick and choose the most pertinent questions for each book.
Book clubs are one way of building reading for pleasure. No special extras are needed to create a fun book club. The joy comes from the books themselves.
Primary Texts provides extensive support for reading in primary schools. To browse our reading blogs for guidance on different aspects of reading, click here. To view our reading lists which provide recommendations for individual, group, and class books, click here.
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