Interview with ABC Hobart last Friday!
May 30, 2017 at 7:06 pm | Posted in Hobart, Radio interviews | Leave a commentTags: ABC Hobart, Louise Saunders, Storm Whale
I was lucky enough to meet the famous Louise Saunders, of ABC Radio Drive, last Friday afternoon in Hobart, and we had a lovely long chat about Storm Whale, the inspiration behind it, and the writing process. You can listen to the interview on this link!
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/hobart/programs/drive/storm-whale/8568362
In Melbourne…and the Storm Whale countdown begins!
May 30, 2017 at 7:01 pm | Posted in Book launches, Bookshop event, Melbourne events | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, Readings Kids, Storm Whale
I arrived in Melbourne yesterday to some cold, bleak and windy weather – perfect for the launch on Thursday of my new book Storm Whale, where the weather is exactly the same! I’m SO excited to be meeting up at the launch with the lovely Jane Tanner, who did the exquisite drawings, my Allen & Unwin publisher Erica Wagner and my wonderful agent Julie Watts. If you live in Melbourne, please do come along – it would be fantastic to see you there!
Thanks Fullers for a funny and fabulous event!
May 27, 2017 at 4:01 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Bookshop event, Chinese festivals, Hobart | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Fuller's Bookshop, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
A big thank you to all the friendly efficient staff at Fullers Bookshop in Hobart for hosting a wonderful event this afternoon for me and Rickshaw Rooster! We had a lovely crowd of babies, kids, pre-teens, mums, dads and grandparents, who cockadoodle-dooed beautifully during my story reading, learned lots of Chinese history, and did brilliantly in the post-reading Quiz (for which they won some tasty fortune cookies!) Special thanks to my host for the day, Anne – photographed with me above; to Cat, the fabulous shop manager, and to Peter Igram-Jones who so patiently and efficiently handled all the lovely book sales in the three schools I visited this week (even though we sold out of four of my titles!). I’ll see you again soon!
Rickshaw Rooster meets Hobart kids at Fullers Bookshop on Saturday!
May 26, 2017 at 6:49 pm | Posted in Books about Chinese Zodiac, Bookshop event, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese festivals, Chinese New Year, Hobart | Leave a commentTags: Fuller's Bookshop, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, The Year of the Rooster
Rickshaw Rooster is saying a big HELLOOOO to Hobart tomorrow at Fullers Bookshop at 3pm in a fun belated Chinese New Year event to celebrate the Year of the Rooster! We’ll have laisee packets with tasty money, a fun story reading, a book-signing, a quiz with fun prizes for kids, mums and dads, and even some free Year of the Rooster bookmarks! So if you’re in Hobart this Saturday afternoon, come along and join the fun!
Cock-a-doodle-DOOOOO!
A marvellous morning at St Mary’s College
May 26, 2017 at 6:35 pm | Posted in Australian schools, children's literacy, Hobart, St Mary's College, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese culture, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda
What a fun morning I had today at St Mary’s College here in Hobart, introducing my Chinese Calendar Tales! My lonely dragon Chester Choi and I met all the lovely girls and boys of Prep to Year 1, and vain but loveable Pin Yin Panda and I met all the kids in Years 2 and 3! It was a joy to work with such a lovely lot of kids and their dedicated teachers. Warm thanks to lovely Deputy Director of Junior School, Glynis Devereux, who was my host for the day, and to librarian Marylouise Jones, who invited me! I hope to see you all again soon!
Helloooo St Michael’s Collegiate girls!
May 25, 2017 at 4:38 pm | Posted in Australian schools, Hobart, Story Readings, workshops | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Introduction to Poetry Workshop, Publishing workshops, St Michael's Collegiate School, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Today I spent a fabulous morning at St Michael’s Collegiate Middle School and a fantastic afternoon at Collegiate Junior School in South Hobart! The Grade 5s and Grade 4s worked very hard – with a lot of fun thrown in – in two Introduction to Poetry Workshops, with some excellent work in rhyming words, solving limerick puzzles and writing a group haiku about their teachers :). The Grade 6 girls learned all about Publishing a Picture Book from Brilliant Idea to Final Product:- I do hope you find it helpful when you make your picture books later this year girls! And the gorgeous Grades 2 to 4 heard my Tale of Rickshaw Rooster and learned some fascinating Chinese history! And afterwards I signed lots and lots of books for my new fans! It was such fun to meet you all and I’m sure I’m going to get some terrific entries from you all in my upcoming Clever Competitions! Huge thanks to the lovely Jodie Heath for inviting me and being such a stellar host! More photos to come!
An evening with ASLA Tasmania at Bridgewater!
May 24, 2017 at 8:09 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Hobart, Talks to teachers | Leave a commentTags: ASLA, Dangers of digital technolody, Digital devices, Digital games, How to Create Bookworms in the Digital Age
Huge thanks to my lovely host Gail King (far right), Ailsa Hill (centre) and Jo-Ann Wolf (left) for inviting me to Jordan River Learning Federation Senior School at Bridgewater, to give a talk about How to Create Bookworms in the Digital Age. We talked all about the fundamental importance of constant book reading to create an imaginative, creative, knowledgable and empathetic thinker, and the dangers of children being exposed at young ages to digital screens, as well as the problems with digital screens being used in schools as a substitute for a well-funded library with expert librarians in charge. A lovely big crowd of primary and high school teachers attended, and afterwards we had a book-signing and some delicious drinks and nibbles! It was a great evening; thanks so much to all the ASLA teachers who came along, and I hope to meet you all again one day!
A fun day with the boys of Hutchins School in Sandy Bay!
May 24, 2017 at 8:00 pm | Posted in Australian schools, Being an Author, School visits | Leave a commentTags: Chinese dragons, Chinese history, The Hutchins School, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
My Tassie tour kicked off with a fabulous morning at The Hutchins School in Sandy Bay, Hobart, today, where I caught up with my old friend Kate Reid, Head of Libraries at Hutchins, who used to be the primary librarian at AISHK in Hong Kong! Kate invited me in for two fab sessions, first with the Years 3 and 4 plus some intrepid Year 6 boys, who found out all about Chinese history from the mid-1700s right up to the founding of the People’s Rebublic of China in 1949, when I read them The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster! Then the Year 1s and 2s met my hungry child-eating dragon in The Tale of Chester Choi and learned some very useful facts about the dragon in Chinese mythology! Thanks Kate, teachers and boys for a memorable morning! And here is one of my new fans, George, who buried himself into my Tale of a Dark Horse! It was great to meet you George!
Storm Whale gets a lovely review!
May 24, 2017 at 7:50 pm | Posted in Book reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Books about beach holidays, Books about whales, Books and Publishing Australia, Jane Tanner, Storm Whale
Here’s my beautiful new book Storm Whale, which is launching in Melbourne at Readings Kids in Lygon Street on Thursday 1st June at 6pm! I”m SOOO excited! It’s a story inspired by my childhood holidays with my family at the seaside in Tasmania, where 3 little girls find a stranded whale on the beach and try to save it. I think you’re going to love it, and love even more the exquisite illustrations by Australia’s award-winning artist Jane Tanner! Here’s a wonderful review we received in Books and Publishing Australia:
Hello Tasmania!!
May 24, 2017 at 7:39 pm | Posted in Being an Author, School visits | Leave a commentTags: Fuller's Bookshop, Storm Whale, Tasmania, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
I’m back in my beautiful birth state of Tasmania, that lovely island beneath Victoria, Australia, for a fabulous week of school visits, lectures and one fantastic event for The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster this Saturday at Hobart’s fabulous Fullers Bookshop! Then next week it’s off to Melbourne to visit my old friends at MLC before the VERY exciting launch of my new book with Allen & Unwin, Storm Whale; then finally a visit up to Brisbane to visit Churchie boys school and catch up with my family before flying back to Hong Kong! Phew! It’s a full schedule, but it’s going to be great fun!
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