PEPELT (Picturebooks in European Primary English Language Teaching) began as an idea in 2017 when four friends, Gail Ellis, Tatia Gruenbaum, Sandie Mourão and Anneta Sadowska, all passionate about using picturebooks in Primary English Language Teaching (PELT), worked on an application for funding from a European body. Our application was unsuccessful, so we decided to go ahead independently. We set up a PEPELT Facebook page which then grew into a PEPELT website.

From October 2018 – June 2021 we selected a picturebook a month based on a specific theme and we each made a short film to share our different perspectives on the selected picturebook. From October 2021 onwards, we continued to select a theme a month but we each selected a different picturebook and shared our ideas and perspectives via a variety of formats: Facebook live chats, posts, parleys, presentations and films. We also organised a PEPELT Reading Challenge for the month of December. To support teachers and parents working remotely during the Covid pandemic, we created mini picturebook e-lessons based on a read-aloud by a picturebook creator. These online elements connect our PEPELT activities and enable teachers to find information easily.

PEPELT has been endorsed by several organisations such as the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe and was a finalist in the British Council’s 2020 ELTons awards for Innovation in Teacher Resources. We now have over 4000 followers on our Facebook page

We are delighted that so many from all around the world are sharing our passion. We have created a community of practice that supports teachers and professionals in the field of language education to critically explore, select and use picturebooks in the classroom to develop language as well as intercultural understanding and an awareness of global issues.

Best wishes from us all.
The PEPELT Team