Autumn is made for reading — shorter days, cosy blankets and stories about pumpkins, squirrels and harvest moons. This fall reading challenge gives kids 30 seasonal ideas to tick off, plus free printables to track every book.
How the challenge works
- Print the falling-leaves reading tracker.
- Colour a leaf for every book finished — picture books, chapter books and audiobooks all count.
- Try to tick off as many of the 30 ideas below as you can before Thanksgiving.
- Celebrate with a reading certificate.
30 fall reading ideas
- Read a book about leaves.
- Read a pumpkin story (try The Pumpkin That Wouldn't Stop Growing).
- Read outside on a crisp day.
- Read by torchlight under a blanket.
- Read a squirrel story.
- Read an autumn poem aloud (fall poems).
- Read a harvest folk tale (folk tales).
- Read an Aesop fable about getting ready for winter.
- Read a book about owls or bats.
- Read a story set on a farm.
- Read a counting book (Ten Falling Leaves).
- Read a book about apples.
- Read to a grandparent.
- Read a book about hibernation (Hedgehog's Cosy Bed).
- Read a not-too-spooky Halloween story.
- Read a book in another language.
- Read a classic (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for older kids).
- Read a non-fiction book about why leaves change colour.
- Read with a mug of cocoa.
- Read a book with a scarecrow in it.
- Listen to an audiobook on a car ride.
- Read a Thanksgiving story.
- Read the same book twice and notice something new.
- Read a book a friend recommends.
- Write a fall acrostic poem (template).
- Do a fall word search (easy or challenge).
- Read a story about the harvest moon.
- Read a funny book and share a fall joke.
- Read 20 minutes every day for a week.
- Pick next month's first book.
Grab the free reading log 📚
A clean, print-ready log to track books, minutes, and little wins — plus the occasional reading tip. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Free fall printables
All free: fall reading comprehension, fall math word problems, pumpkin life-cycle sequencing, fall picture bingo and more on the fall collection page.
Where to find fall books
Our fall collection has original early readers, pumpkin, leaf and squirrel picture books, and cosy classics — all free to read online. Books with more mature themes carry a clear age label, so you can pick the right ones for your reader.
Track your fall reading challenge in Pagine — every book earns progress toward a badge.