Children’s literature, an educational medium endorsed by parents, schools and the library authority, plays a very important role in the lives and education of young children. The activities of reading and being read to not only enhance children’s literacy development and prepare them for future success, but also serve as an important agent of socialisation. Apart from enabling children to acquire literacy and broaden their knowledge base, reading is an important medium through which young children build character and develop positive values.

In Hong Kong, the Education Bureau encourages schools to foster a reading culture to enhance learners’ language proficiency as well as their whole-person development through the incorporation of moral and civic education in reading classes. Teachers are advised to strengthen values education through various resources that provide contexts for students to explore value-laden issues and stimuli for critical and creative thinking development. In view of this, this website offers a number of e-books developed by some preservice teachers at the Education University of Hong Kong under the supervision of Dr Jackie Fung King Lee. The books stress values education for primary school children, and they are accompanied by carefully designed learning activities to facilitate the development of good character and positive values, such as gender awareness, cultural understanding, empathy, respect and care for others.