Books for HTeCV was developed in response to a problem in our community: Finding good books to read while learning from home is challenging. With limited access to classroom libraries, many students have voiced it has been hard to get their hands on books. Fifth graders brainstormed ways to help solve this problem as a grade. This whole-grade discussion launched students into writing their picture books to create a student-made, online library for HTeCV. And so, our project was born!

Fifth graders became experts in children’s literature by reading many published picture books. Students studied common themes, language patterns, and artwork in picture books to inspire their ideas. Fifth graders then interviewed students from younger grades to learn more about what types of books our community enjoys. Pulling from many sources of inspiration, students have been working hard to write and illustrate their picture books that will soon be available to HTeCV’s younger students and our community at large.