Sarah Brennan Funny & Fabulous Blog

Sybil Snake slithers into Banyan House this Sssssunday!

Sunday is going to be one more Fun Day on Lamma Island here in Hong Kong for kids who love Snakes! I’m going to be reading The Tale of Sybil Snake, with cakes and drinks included, and it’s all FREE! Come along and join the fun – here are all the details:

WHERE: Banyan House, 32 Yung Shue Long New Village, Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island

WHEN: 2pm – 4pm Sunday 24^th November

COST: FREE!! Drinks and nibbles included!

REGISTRATION: Please email Sarah at enquiries@auspicioustimes.com to register for the event.

BOOKS: will be available for purchase at a specially discounted price, just in time for Christmas!

A Big Thank You to Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School!

Hello everyone at PLK Choi Kai Yau School – it was great to meet you all this week! I do hope that you enjoyed my Writing a Riveting Story Workshop! Many thanks to Senior Teacher Ms. Dodie Sa Sarchet-Waller, Principal Dr. Lau Siu Ling, English Teacher Ms. Wing Leung, Teacher Librarian Ms. Tammy Ng, Ms. Joli Moore and Ms. Jun Niu pictured above with me and some of the gorgeous Grade 3s!

Ho Ho Ho! It’s time for a Merry Christmas Poem Competition!

With Christmas looming just over 6 weeks away, it’s time for another Clever Competition! And what better way to celebrate the holidays than with a Poem about Christmas! It can be anything from a happy haiku to a laugh-out-loud limerick; a rousing rhyming verse to a bouncing ballad; even a frosty free verse poem will do! Go to my Clever Competition page above right away for all the details, and remember, you’ve got to be in it to win it! The deadline is Friday 17th January, so get those pens out and start writing!

Sybil’s Secret Mission at the Jade Buddha’s Temple in Shanghai!

Oh No!! Sybil Snake went slithering into the Jade Buddha’s Temple in Shanghai last Saturday morning with a top ssssecret mission!! I wonder if you can guess what it was?

Here she is, with me in the temple grounds, with all the worshippers burning incense – isn’t it beautiful?

And hiding in the gardens, surrounded by beautiful carvings:

Watch out Sybil! Here is a Buddhist lady monk, reading a prayer…. she’s onto you!

Now Sybil is sneaking upstairs, peering through the windows…and over the rooftops:

And slithering quietly past the reclining Buddha, and other sacred friends…

Past an amazing Chinese artist, who paints scenery with his hands:

To the fabulous treasures in the museum upstairs!

Aha!! She’s found some gold at last! Goodbye Sybil Snake, sleep well in your grotto…that clever Buddhist monk will be along soon!

A fabulous finale at BISS Puxi!

What a fantastic way to end my Shanghai Schools tour this November! I had four fabulous sessions with the wonderful Grade 2 to 6s and their dedicated, friendly teachers at BISS Puxi on Tuesday before flying home to Hong Kong. Huge thanks to my terrific host Elizabeth Wood for looking after me so well! Photos to come soon!

WISSssssss was Wonderful!

A big thank you to my dear friend Fiona Collins, head of libraries (right) and the lovely Adrienne Johnson, primary librarian at Western International School Shanghai (left), for a fabulous day of story readings with the kids from Grade 2 to 5! We had so much fun Ssssing and Shhhing and learning some fascinating Chinese history – it was magic!

Sybil Snake slithers in to M on the Bund!

Sybil Snake and I dropped into our all-time favourite Shanghai events venue M on the Bund for a story reading session on Sunday morning! Here I am with some of the lovely audience – we had a lot of fun! Thanks to the wonderful Tina Kanagaratnam for organising the event!

A Ssssuper Ssssaturday afternoon at Starbugs!

It was my huge pleasure to meet principal Qing Yang and the dedicated teachers and gorgeous children of the innovative local after-school book reading club Starbugs Academy on Saturday afternoon! We SSSSSed and SSSSHHHHed our way through the Tale of Sybil Snake with great aplomb, and had a lot of fun!

SUIS was ssssizzling!

A big thank you to Fran Bruce, Assistant Head and English Co-ordinator at Shanghai United International School, Honqiao campus, and the fabulous staff and students for the warmest of welcomes on Friday! Fran made a ssssstunning Sybil Snake, complete with golden ball, joined by Vice-Principal and PYP Co-ordinator Jane Alston as Pin Yin Panda and Co-Principal Zhang Hong as Chester Choi, with a real life cookie jar!! We had workshop sessions with the Grade 6 to 8 students, and story readings with the younger students, with Sybil Snake, Pin Yin Panda and Chester Choi acting up a storm! Above see Chester Choi, Pin Yin Panda, Sybil Snake and Co-Principal Martin Donnellan and I with the winners of the SUIS Book Competition, and below at left, talented twins Amy and Annie Lee, with their books, and at right, the Library Club with a delicious chocolate cake baked in honour of my visit – it was scrumptious!