We will take you through the writing and illustration process set-by-step. You don't have to be a great artist and a fantastic writer - although it helps to be good in at least one of the two. 

When your WebCaTS teachers are not with you in workshops or visiting you at school, we will communicate with you by email and webinars. Help is never very far away.

We'll give you tips and tricks to make your story and illustrations really captivating. 

You will have access to helpful resources on the website to get your writing and illustrating just right.

Your school will provide some equipment but you can use your own favourite art materials, too.

Art equipment needed: 2B & 3B pencils, sharpener, plastic eraser, ruler, A4 art pad (we will tell you which ones are OK), If using paints: paint mixing palette (or similar), liquid paints in red, yellow, blue, black & white - preferably gouache but acrylics will do (not oils), a range of brushes (soft bristle - small. medium & large, hard bristle - medium), water containers for washing brushes . If using colouring pencils: good quality pencils - Derwent or Polychrome.

You will need some time each week at school to work on your writing and pictures. One or two hours should be enough. If you need extra time you can work on your Picture Book at home.

Each student will have a Picture Book Planner to help manage their time.

There will be 15 students in the class, all from schools in your area.

There will be 2 full-day workshops and one half-day when you will work on your story writing and illustrations. The workshops will probably be in Weeks 1, 2, and 10 of the program.

All the resources you need will be posted on the weekly Picture Books Blog on the WebCaTS website, including webinar timetables and files to download. 

Each week students will take part in an online webinar (or video conference). It might be for the whole class or a group of students at a time. The webinars give you a chance to show your teachers how you are going, ask questions and get instruction on the next step in making your picture book.

In some weeks your art teacher will visit you at school and help to plan or polish up your illustrations.

Check your email each day for messages from your teachers. You can email your teachers at any time for help with your project.

All your writing and scanned images of your artwork will be saved to your USB drive and uploaded to your own storage folder in the cloud.