Picture Book Series Project

Why do this project?

Making picture books is the most obvious writing project of them all. It’s a familiar and much loved genre. Children will already know a lot about picture books and how they work from their years of book-making in Nursery and Reception. They give children freedom to write as little or as much on a page as they like. One word or a whole paragraph. The format lends itself to writing a new idea on each page – an early form of paragraphing. They are an artefact to be picked up, handled, passed round, displayed, treasured, taken home and given as a gift. They ensure children see themselves as real writers because they are making books just like the authors they love.

Making a picture book series as joint project is a great way of building a community of writers. As you’ll see from the mentor texts we provide as part of this project’s Genre Booklet, we decided to make our own series based on Meg & Mog. A much loved favourite amongst KS1 children. You’ll need to do the same with your class. Decide what favourite characters from your class library the children would like to create their own picture book about.

There are lots of options here. The whole class can contribute a book to a single series. For example, all the children in your class could write their own Meg & Mog books. Alternatively, you could let the children decide for themselves. In the process, they could work in their groups. For example, some children might write their own Elmer The Elephant series while others decide to make their own picture books using Max from Where The Wild Things Are.

This class writing project provides you with:

+ Comprehensive teacher notes: