I love M on the Bund!
March 12, 2015 at 10:50 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
This afternoon after visiting SCIS Pudong, I dropped into my favourite restaurant in Shanghai, M on the Bund, which also happens to host the Shanghai International Literary Festival every year! It was lovely to catch up with my friends Bruno Van Der Burg (general manager) above and Tina Kanagaratnam, writer and CEO of AsiaMedia, as well as co-founder of the Literary Festival, below, who kindly fed me dinner! Mums and Dads – make sure you book your kids in to all the Kids’ Events at the next Festival in November, and book yourselves into the fabulous adult events – they’re a must for anyone interested in books and culture in Shanghai!
A Fabulous Frolic at SCIS Pudong!
March 12, 2015 at 10:19 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Today was such a fabulous frolic with all the sparky kids, dedicated teachers and lovely teacher librarian Karen Danesi (above) at Shanghai Community International School, Pudong! The feisty Grade 4s learned How to Write a Riveting Story; the fantastic Grade 5s learned How to Publish Your Own Book, the thinkers in Grade 3 learned all about why Books are a Writer’s Best Friend, and then the terrific Grade 2s, Grade 1s and Kindies heard my Tale of Rodney Ram and asked some very interesting questions! And I signed lots and lots of lovely books! Just my kind of day! Thank you Karen, and all the team at SCIS, for hosting me today, and making me feel like a Film Star!
Introducing Britannica International – the School which Loves Books!
March 11, 2015 at 7:02 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Britannica International School, children's literacy, Digital games and toys, Shanghai schools
Today I had the great pleasure of visiting Britannica International School again! What a fabulous morning we had! We did writing workshops for the big kids, and story readings for the little kids, and learned sooooo much about what makes children into great writers. Like reading, and reading, and reading real books in our spare time, and TURNING OFF digital games and toys, and using digital technology as a tool, not a toy! Like playing outside with our friends, and spending time in nature, and having hobbies like stamp collecting. Because all these activities (and especially reading books), give us a great imagination, and a great imagination is the key to great writing….and a richer, happier, healthier life! Not surprisingly, all the kids agreed with me! They said that next time they asked for a birthday present, they were going to ask mum and dad to stop giving them boring digital games, and start giving them lots and lots of books! Yay! Here I am above with Britannica School’s enlightened and very impressive principal, David Goodwin, who believes that reading lots of books is the key to learning. And beside me is wonderful librarian Qing Zhang, who was the best host a visiting author could hope to have! And in front of us is just a small sample of Britannica’s horde of book-loving kids! BOY, do they love reading! If I were their mums and dads, I’d be so happy to have my children’s education in such wise hands!
Helloooo to my old friends at WISS!
March 10, 2015 at 5:56 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Zodiac, Shanghai schools, WISS
It was fabulous to visit my old (and some new :)) friends at Western International School Shanghai today! My dear friend Fiona Collins, deputy principal and head of libraries (above left) and dedicated Primary School librarian Adrienne Johnson (right) were on hand to make the day run smoothly, and it was great to see the Grade 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s again! We had two story reading sessions where the Grade 2s and 3s met Rodney Ram, and two Riveting Story Workshops with the older kids! I hugely look forward to receiving lots of riveting stories from you all in my upcoming writing competitions this year! But in the meantime, you can enter my Shaggy Sheep Poem Competition – all the details are in the box attached to the whiteboard in your library below! And a fond farewell till next time to you all from the Chinese Zodiac beasties in the photo below, including Stamford the Lion at the back, the Big Cat who never made it into the Chinese Calendar…
A Woolly Warm Welcome from HQIS today!
March 9, 2015 at 6:46 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Wow – that was a fantastic day I had today at the brand new campus of Hongqiao International School! The little ones learned all about how the animals got into the Chinese Zodiac in Lord Buddha’s Race, when I introduced them to my Tale of Pin Yin Panda! Then the bigger Grade 3 to 4s heard my shaggy Tale of Rodney Ram, and the Grade 5s and 6s learned all about How to Write a Riveting Story! It was great to meet a school full of such keen readers, and I know I’m going to get lots of great entries in my Clever Competition from you all! Make sure you click on my Clever Competitions page above for all the details! And huge thanks to lovely librarian Ashley McKnight (above left) and head of English Donna Paxon (above right) for looking after me so well!
Rodney Ram is frolicking up to Shanghai and Beijing today!
March 8, 2015 at 10:02 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Beijing Schools, Clever Competition, Shanghai schools, The Tale of Rodney Ram
Hellooooo to all my friends and fans in Shanghai and Beijing! Rodney Ram and I and the rest of the Chinese Calendar Tales family are flying up to Shanghai this afternoon to visit 8 fabulous schools in Shanghai and Beijing from Monday 9th March to Wednesday 18th March! We can’t wait to see you all!
And if we’re not coming to YOUR school, fear not! You can still help celebrate Rodney’s special year by entering my Clever Competition for primary school kids! See all the details on my blog on the Clever Competitions page above!
And you can follow our Shanghai and Beijing tour on this blog too, with lots of fun and photographs to view!
A very proud moment with Room to Read!
March 7, 2015 at 12:33 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Room to Read, The Tale of Rodney Ram, Vietnam
On Wednesday I attended a fantastic evening with Room To Read, where I heard the moving story of a wonderful young woman called Tay Thi Nguyen, who is the star graduate of Room to Read Vietnam’s Girls’ Education Program. Can you believe that when Tay Thi was a young girl, her mum actually burned her school books to stop her from getting an education? It was because the family was so poor, her mum wanted Tay Thi to go out and work to earn money. Luckily Room To Read found out about her, and was able to help her to get a scholarship to fund all her studies, until she graduated at university as a teacher! Now her mum is very happy, because not only can Tay Thi earn a great living, but she has also encouraged both her brothers to go on to further studies, so the family will no longer be poor! Tay Thi has now gone back to her village to teach other children to read – isn’t she an inspiration?
Here she is above on the left, holding a copy of my Tale of Rodney Ram with Dan Doan, Senior Program Manager, Room to Read Vietnam’s Girls’ Education Program, at Room to Read’s Gala Event on Friday night. I’m so proud to see two such kind and wonderful people holding my books!
Remember if you want to help girls like Tay Thi achieve their dream to read, and to study, you can ask Mum and Dad to visit http://www.roomtoread.org right away with you, to find out more!
Helloooooo Singapore International School!
March 6, 2015 at 9:16 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Hong Kong Schools, Singapore International School
Today I had a fabulous day with the Grade 1 to 3 students of Singapore International School! They learned all about how rice came to China (the real version, the folktale version and MY version :)) and met my shy but very artistic, romantic and lucky Ram, and were such fun to work with! Many thanks to teacher Sharon Mullen and Kartine (head of English) (below left) and my old friend, librarian Fanny Kwok (below right with Sharon and me), for a fantastic day!
A BIG day at Kowloon Junior School!
March 5, 2015 at 9:32 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: Hong Kong Schools, Kowloon Junior School, Poetry workshops, Writing workshops
Well that was a whopper of a day today at Kowloon Junior School! It was great to visit my old friends there again, and to see the impressive new school premises, with a big, beautiful library right at the heart of the school, just where a library should be! The Grade 3s had my How to Write a Riveting Story Workshop, I read my Tale of Rodney Ram to the Grade 1s, 2s, 4s and 5s, and then the Grade 6s had my Introduction to Poetry Workshop. It was fun, and the kids were fabulous! Here they are above, getting ready for one of my sessions with a big “AIYEEE-YA!” on the right, and above left are my two lovely hosts for the day, Katie Tucker (Drama Club and K2 Teacher) and Vanessa Sheppard (teacher librarian). I can’t wait to see all the kids’ entries in my Clever Competition! See the Clever Competition tab above for all the details!
A Funny and Fabulous Day at DBIS!
March 4, 2015 at 3:13 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Zodiac, Discovery Bay International School, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda, The Tale of Rodney Ram
I had SUCH a fun day today with my old – and young 🙂 – friends at Discovery Bay International School today! The Grade 2s, 3s, and 4s met my shaggy, shy sheep Rodney, and then the gorgeous Grade 1s met my very vain (but loveable) Pin Yin Panda, and learned all about how the animals got into the Chinese Zodiac! We had a ball! Huge thanks to the wonderful Naomi Gist (above) for hosting me today! And even more thanks for letting me, and my family of Chinese Zodiac animals, make our getaway, very stylishly, in her Discovery Bay golf buggy! But trust that Pin Yin Panda to insist on riding in the front! You can also see below a fabulous drawing of Rodney Ram given to me by a lovely student called Elin – isn’t it terrific?
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