Year 5 Book Club Project with Brown Books
Over the past five weeks, a group of Year 5 pupils have been taking part in a truly special book club project in partnership with Brown Books, the much-loved independent bookshop on Hightown Road.
This exciting collaboration takes place each half term, with a new group of Year 5 children working alongside teachers from St Matthew’s and the knowledgeable staff at the bookshop. Together, they plan and deliver a creative reading experience for younger pupils in our school. The project not only celebrates a love of books, but also helps our older children develop confidence, teamwork, organisation and leadership skills.
Planning the Perfect Reading Adventure
This half term, our Year 5 group decided they wanted to create something interactive and memorable for a small group of Year 1 pupils. After several planning sessions — filled with ideas, drafts, teamwork and careful thinking about their audience — they chose to design a scavenger hunt inside the bookshop.
Taking inspiration from Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book by Julia Donaldson, the children explored the idea of stories within stories. They then worked collaboratively to write their own original pages, crafting a brand-new tale especially for the Year 1 pupils.
Each page of their story was carefully written, illustrated and then hidden around Brown Books. The challenge for Year 1 was to find all the pages … and piece the story together!
A Magical Afternoon at the Bookshop
The Year 1 children had a fantastic afternoon exploring the bookshop, searching high and low for the hidden pages. There was great excitement each time a new page was discovered, and even more anticipation as the story began to take shape.
Once all the pages had been found, the children worked together to assemble the finished book, titled Mr Owl’s Favourite Book. It was a proud moment for our Year 5 authors to see younger pupils so engaged with a story they had created themselves.
A Very Special Surprise
To make the project even more memorable, the children were thrilled to discover that funding from Brown Books will allow their story to be professionally printed. Each child involved will receive their own printed copy to keep — a wonderful reminder of their creativity, teamwork and achievement.
Projects like this truly showcase the power of reading to bring children together. They also highlight the importance of our partnerships within the local community and the incredible opportunities they provide for our pupils.
A huge well done to all the Year 5 authors and organisers, and thank you to Brown Books for their continued support. We can’t wait to see what the next group creates after half term! 📚✨
