6 Books to Encourage Your Kid to Keep a Journal

Dork Diaries: OMG! All About Me Diary!, by Rachel Renée Russell
Any of the books in the super-popular Dork Diaries series could get your kids on track to start doodling and scribbling away in their own diaries just like the books’ star Nikki Maxwell. But this supplemental book to the series is great for those just starting out on their journaling journey. This guided journal just for middle-graders includes questions for every day of the year—If you could swap places with anyone for a day, who would it be and why? What song could you listen to 100 times? And, of course, Nikki weighs in with her own opinions and drawings as well!

The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book, by Jeff Kinney
Have a kid who’s obsessed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid and might want to write and star in their own bestselling book just like beloved underdog Greg Heffley? Then this book is just the one for them! It’s filled with interactive pages, prompts, and plenty of space for your kiddo’s own day-to-day life observations and drawings. Plus, it includes 32 pages of full-color Diary of a Wimpy Kid comics to inspire and entertain young readers and budding writers.

Attack of the Journal (Star Wars: Jedi Academy series), by Jeffrey Brown
Young Jedis in training need a journaling outlet too, and with this companion to the bestselling Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, they’ll have exactly that. Roan, Yoda, Ewok Pilot, and the rest of the Jedi Academy gang all come together in an out-of-this-world interactive journal. Within its pages, kids can come up with intergalactic stories and comics, design droids and spaceships, and even learn some new space jokes. The Force will definitely be with your kiddos as they embark on this adventure.

Amelia’s Notebook, by Marissa Moss
Designed to look just like a real journal, this book is an awesome read for the middle-grade set. Fictional 9-year-old Amelia received this notebook from her mom for her birthday, and she has, in turn, filled it with her “top-secret” thoughts about moving to a new town, drawings of people she meets along the way, and mementos like postcards to her faraway best friend, Nadia. Kids will relate to Amelia and her funny, often poignant take on life. This would make an excellent companion gift to a blank notebook for your kids to start filling with their own thoughts.

Have Pen, Will Travel (Ellie McDoodle Diaries series), by Ruth McNally Barshaw
Part of the Ellie McDoodle Diaries series, Have Pen, Will Travel is an excellent summer reading pick for getting kids on the journaling track. Eleven-year-old Ellie McDougal is begrudgingly headed on a summer camping trip in northern Michigan with her family. Thankfully, she has her trusty diary filled with her humorous writing and clever sketches to keep her—and young readers—thoroughly entertained as she’s forced to actually get to know some extended family members. The book also includes Ellie’s instructions and diagrams for games like “Spoons,” “Fing Fang Fooey,” and “Sardines” to inspire some creative outdoor play as well.

Dear Toni, by Cyndi Sand-Eveland
Sixth-grader Gene Tucks finds herself in the dreaded new-kid-in-school role after her family moves to a new town, where her teacher gives the class an assignment to write in a journal for 100 days. The journals will then be locked up at the local museum for 40 years and given to other sixth-grade students. At first, Gene has trouble writing to this person she doesn’t even know, someone who hasn’t even been born yet. But soon “Dear Nobody” evolves into “Dear Somebody” and then “Dear Toni,” who becomes a trusted friend and confidant to this highly relatable tween.