Meet Burger and Long Long!

January 16, 2018 at 12:59 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Kingston International School Hong Kong | Leave a comment
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Whenever I visit a school to give the VERY FIRST reading of my new Chinese Calendar Tale, I give the kids in the very first session what I call “naming rights” for the two little extra creatures that our fabulous illustrator, Harry Harrison, adds to all the pictures in the book!

Yesterday, at the very first ever reading of The Tale of Desmond Dog, that session happened to be for the kids of Grade One at Kingston International School in Kowloon Tong!

After hotly contested debate, they came up with the following:

Burger the Hermit Crab:               Long Long the Sea Louse:

The crab

The woodlouse thingie

 

I think those names are great!

So when you get your copy of the book here, make sure you check every page and see if you can find Burger and Long Long!

 

 

Desmond starts his Hong Kong tour early!

January 16, 2018 at 12:50 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings, workshops, Writing competitions for kids, writing workshops for children | Leave a comment
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Front cover image without textDesmond Dog got off to an early start (a month before his official year begins!) yesterday when I visited one of my favourite Hong Kong schools, Kingston International School in Kowloon Tong! The Grade Ones met Desmond first, and as such, had naming rights for the two little creatures that Harry Harrison always adds in to his wonderful illustrations! See my next post to find out what they called them! The Lower Primary school all had fun pretending they were pirates, like the infamous baddie in the story, Ching Shih, with many a ferocious “Aha, me hearties!” but were reminded at the end of the story that Crime Doesn’t Pay! They also learned about Hong Kong’s early history! Then the Grade 4s to 6s all took part in my How to Write A Riveting Story workshop! I can’t wait to see their entries in my new Dashing Dog Story Competition! Warm thanks to Jade Englebracht who hosted me – I had a ball! More photos to come!

It’s time for a Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition!

January 14, 2018 at 5:17 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Chinese Calendar Tales, Writing competitions for kids | 5 Comments
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Desmond holding child

Are you a primary school student anywhere in the world? Do you love DOGS? Do you love writing stories? Then it’s time to enter my latest international Clever Competition, The Dashing Dog Story Competition!

Introducing Desmond Dog, the latest loveable character in the Chinese Calendar Tales series! Like all Chinese Zodiac dogs, he’s brave, noble and kind, and he LOVES protecting his little village, keeping everybody safe from harm! And of course, his Year of the Chinese Zodiac is just around the corner!

So it’s about time that we had a story writing competition all about DOGS! This time I want you to write me a story about a typical Chinese Zodiac Dog, like Desmond. I want him to be brave, kind, honourable and above all, DASHING!! You also must have

  • a title for your story, the more interesting the better!
  • a Chinese setting – be that a village, a city, a river, a lake, a mountain or even a Chinese planet in the future! So you’ll have to do a bit of research, and make sure to include lots of details which make the setting typically Chinese!
  • a scary typhoon!
  • a flying fish with golden scales
  • a wise philosopher
  • an evil cat
  • the colour mikado – and if you don’t know what colour that is, you’ll have to look it up!

Go to my Clever Competitions page here for all the details, rules and information.

The deadline date is Friday 23rd March, so pick up that paper and pen and get ready…get set…WOOF!

WOOF! Introducing The Tale of Desmond Dog!

January 14, 2018 at 4:58 pm | Posted in Book launches, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Buying my books, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese New Year, Online Sales | Leave a comment
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desmond hi res cover.jpg

Helloooo everybody and a very Happy New Year to you all! I hope that you had a wonderful festive season full of good fun with your families, and, of course, that you read a whole lot of fabulous books!

Speaking of which…here is the newest member of The Chinese Calendar Tales family, out just in time for the Year of the Dog! It’s full of fun verse, a terrifically exciting plot and Harry Harrison’s wonderful illustrations, as wacky and witty as ever!

It’s 1810, and infamous pirate queen Ching Shih and her Red Flags are terrorizing the South China Sea. Enter Desmond Dog, hero of the fishing village of Hong Kong! He’s noble, honest and kind, and loves to help others. But he’s also strong, daring and brave, with an excellent nose… in fact, he has the makings of an excellent pirate! Will Desmond be lured into a life of crime? And what will become of Ching Shih and her crew? Find out in this exciting tale of trickery, temptation…and treasure!

Don’t forget to buy your copy in your local bookshop OR you can order it online here right away!

And if you’d like to come along to the funny and fabulous Hong Kong launch of The Tale of Desmond Dog, make a note in your diary for Saturday 10th February at 2pm at Bookazine in Princes Building, Central. I’ll be posting your official invitation on this blog soon!

Yay! My blog has been awarded as one of the Top 100 Blogs in Hong Kong!!

January 10, 2018 at 9:08 am | Posted in Awards, media articles | Leave a comment
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Wow! I’ve just heard from Feedspot who selected this blog as one of the Top 100 Hong Kong Blogs on the web! Click here to see the other Top Blogs and add them to your favourite blogs!

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