The Oxford Big Read is a contest where we design a poster that is based on an Oxford reader book, along with a summary and a recommendation written in English. All of the first graders in our school created posters for the competition.These posters were then narrowed down to five contestants by our art and homeroom teachers to officially be entered into the competition. Many students chose books in the genre that they liked, or by the book’s aesthetic appeal.

Starting from the summer holidays, we worked on creating these posters. Although there were a lot of parts where we struggled; our art teacher gave us suggestions on how to make it better. What most people found difficult was how to create a poster with originality, and many of us struggled to consistently add on to our posters. There were times where we chatted with friends and still had no idea what to do next. In the end, everyone managed to complete their artwork, and we are proud to say that each poster was a unique piece of art.

Before starting the actual project, our art teacher handed us “ Big Read Booklets” to guide us through the process of creating our posters. Our first three tasks were given during the summer holidays. We first chose a book from the Oxford reader books to read and wrote a summary and recommendation for it. Then, we moved on to researching art styles that we thought would match our book’s theme. This was mainly a requirement for the competition, as we had to incorporate an art style into our posters, though it greatly assisted in making the posters look more harmonious. Lastly, we had to come up with three drafts and sketched them into our booklets. In our first art class of the second semester, we moved on to sketching our preferred draft onto the actual poster paper. For the remaining classes, we focused on colouring our sketches. The majority of people started working with paints, markers, and coloured pencils to create a colourful poster that stands out.