Simone Goward, Bookfest’s Schools & Volunteers Coordinator, has put together a brilliant set of lesson plans to help with the BIG Book Award 2026 Film-making, Art and Poetry Competitions.

Click on the links below to open each of the lesson plans as a pdf. We hope you enjoy using them with your pupils.

Film-making

Through our Film Trailer Competition, we aim to encourage pupils to think like film-makers, making intentional creative choices that deepen their understanding of story, audience and visual communication. We are looking for pupils to use locations, props, costumes, sound and lighting in inventive ways, showing original visual storytelling and a clear, purposeful style that supports the book’s themes.

Here are some adaptable resources for you to try out:

• Film trailer lesson plan
• Film trailer success criteria
• Relic Hamilton example story board
• The First Year example story board

Art

Simone has created a flexible series of painting lessons to help pupils develop the skills they need to illustrate a scene from one of the shortlisted books. Because classes differ in prior knowledge, experience and available resources, each lesson is designed so teachers can select the elements that best suit their pupils and the time they have.

• Plan 1 – Skill Development
  Pupils create a colour palette exploring different greens, building a reference grid for their landscape painting.
• Plan 2 – Skill Development Through Claude Monet
  This sequence spans several activities and explores colour application, composition and simple perspective techniques through the landscapes of Claude Monet.
• Plan 3 – Using Viewpoint for Impact
  This plan introduces how viewpoint can help create original, eye-catching compositions that draw the judges’ attention. Pupils experiment with positioning, angles and framing to create more dynamic and engaging illustrations.
• Emphasis of Key Objects
  The concluding document offers strategies for helping children emphasise important objects within their scene, ensuring that key narrative elements stand out clearly in their finished artwork.

Poetry

• Grimstink Recipe List Poem
• Wildlands Persona Poem
• The Boy With Big Decisions Inner Monologue Poem

Back to the Book Award 2026 Information Page