With schools closed or only partially open, you may be struggling with providing safe and productive interactions for your child with friends and classmates. One solution is to create a pandemic book club for your child and his or her friends or classmates. This will keep your child reading in the absence of traditional classroom reading and will also provide some interaction between classmates. Depending on your city and comfort level, your child’s book club can be virtual or in pandemic pods.

Pandemic pods are the nickname for small groups of 3–6 children who get together for homework with a parent or tutor. Your pandemic pod can also meet virtually if that’s more comfortable or safe. You should also consider the following when forming your pandemic pod:

• Is everyone around the same reading level? Check this so that all children can finish the book between meetings.
• Give children between 30 and 60 days to finish the book, depending on the amount of reading they’re additionally assigned in school.
• Not sure how much to read daily? The recommended reading is 30 minutes per night for grades 3–4.
• Meet with parents to come up with comprehension, discussion, and reflection questions. If possible, read the book before doing so.
• When your child finishes the book, meet virtually or safely in person with the kids and parents to discuss the questions created by parents.
• Make book club a fun experience by providing themed snacks or treats, asking friends to dress like a character, suggesting a related art project, or watching a related movie.

Below are 10 suggestions for your Kids’ Pandemic Book Club for grades 3–4 level reading:

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White: This classic story of love and friendship is a great book for your book club. This is a beginning chapter book, so your third or fourth graders should be able to read comfortably and independently.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio: Auggie, born with facial constructive differences, struggles to fit in. This is a more advanced chapter book, but tells the story of being yourself and acceptance. Wonder is an excellent addition to your book club, and will inspire reflective thinking in your children.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan: This is a coming-of-age novel that follows Esperanza as her family is forced to flee from their ranch in Mexico and travel to California. This eye-opening story will educate and inspire children about rising above challenges and adversity.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl: A classic chapter book of imaginative and colorful storytelling, this is one of Dahl’s most popular children’s novels. Explore your child’s own imagination in accompaniment with this book, and bring the story to life with yummy treats at your pandemic book club meetings.

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks: This is a more advanced chapter book, but an entertaining tale of little figurines come to life; most notably, a small Native American figurine befriends a little boy. This novel explores racial stereotypes and prejudice and how they can be overcome.

How Tia Lola Came to Stay by Julia Alvarez: After Miguel’s parents split up and he moved to Vermont, his Tia Lola came from the Dominican Republic to lend a hand. Miguel is initially embarrassed by his tia, who doesn’t exactly fit in, but he soon realizes the importance of his culture. This short novel is a great illustration of diversity, living in two cultures, and cultural identity.

Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne: This is not one novel but a series of chapter books that follow Jack and Annie, two siblings, as they travel through time. In any given story, they might be sailing the seas with Blackbeard or sitting at the round table with Camelot. This is a fun and classic chapter book that kids love.

If Kids Ran the World by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon: Written by two-time Caldecott medalists, this book tells the story of kindness in a world where kids are in charge. This book celebrates diversity, kindness, forgiveness, and charity. The end of the novel also includes ways that kids can help others in today’s world if they’re inspired by the story.

Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster: Follow along with Milo, a young boy who embarks on a journey through a magical tollbooth. The world he enters is nothing like the one he left, and is full of imagination and interesting people. Explore imagination in your own world after reading this classic story.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner: If your children like adventure and mystery, they’ll love this chapter book series! Follow four siblings as they solve mystery after mystery, and fill your children’s head with curiosity and a drive to discover.

Once you have picked out your book for your book club, it’s recommended that you and other parents read it first. Doing so will give you a better grasp of the novel and the issues it explores, giving you a chance to approve it before your child reads it. Now that you’ve read it, create some questions that explore different parts of the novel. For example, if you pick Wonder, your questions could look something like this:

• Why does Auggie think he doesn’t fit in?
• What could Auggie’s classmates have done differently to show more compassion?
• How do Auggie’s parents use humor and comedy throughout the book?
• Have you ever felt like you haven’t fit in? Explain.
• Have you ever noticed someone else who had a hard time making friends? What did you do in that situation?
• What would you have done if you were Auggie? Would you feel the same, or would you feel differently?
• What do you think the main message of Wonder is?

Providing a mix of comprehension and reflective questions to your pandemic book club will help your children not only understand the book, but the message it’s trying to deliver. Fleshing that out in a discussion will help children carry this message (in Wonder’s case, about being yourself and showing compassion to others) into the real world, and will translate in their thoughts and actions.

If your child is having difficulty reading by him- or herself, turn book club reading into a family activity, reading aloud to your child. This will help your child process the issues or information being presented more effectively.

A Pandemic Book Club is just one solution to children’s decreased social interaction, but this is a great opportunity to discuss real-world issues with children. Include both classic novels, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and other novels that explore diversity, like Esperanza Rising or Wonder, to provide a well-rounded after-school curriculum for your child. Whether virtually, social distanced, or in pandemic pods, providing this activity for your child will be fun, engaging, and educational.

Be sure to check out How to Make a Virtual Kid’s Book Club for Grades 5-6

For more educational ideas and resources for grades PreK–8, subscribe to Evan-Moor’s free education newsletter.

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Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning.