February | 2018 | Sarah Brennan Funny & Fabulous Blog

Hooray! Storm Whale is a CBCA Notable!

February 28, 2018 at 10:00 pm | Posted in Book Awards, Buying my books | Leave a comment
Tags: Books about whales, CBCA Awards, CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018, Storm Whale

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Illustrator Jane Tanner and I were so excited yesterday to find out that Storm Whale has been listed on the Children’s Book Council of Australia Notables List for Best Picture Book 2018! We’ll find out in March if our beautiful book makes the Short List of the CBCA Awards, as well as the Short List of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal in the UK!

If you haven’t bought your copy yet, you can purchase it here !

Woof! Desmond is a best seller in Hong Kong!

February 28, 2018 at 9:47 pm | Posted in Best sellers, Bookazine Festival Walk, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: Books about Chinese history for kids, Books about Chinese Zodiac, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog

Woof! It’s official! The Tale of Desmond Dog is one of the Top 5 January Books at Bookazine, Hong Kong’s leading bookshop! Here’s what I found on their new Festival Walk shop screen last weekend!

Desmond Dog sails to Discovery Bay!

February 28, 2018 at 9:29 pm | Posted in Discovery College, Hong Kong Schools, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: Chinese history for kids, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog

Huge thanks to my lovely friend, PYP Teacher Librarian Leanne Sercombe (also known as Sherlock Holmes), who expertly hosted Desmond Dog and me (also known as Dr Watson) yesterday when we visited Discovery College! We had a fabulous day of story readings, with everyone involved from the Year 1s right up to the Year 6s! Here are some fab photos above and below!

A hugely happy day at AISHK!

February 22, 2018 at 12:26 pm | Posted in AISHK, Hong Kong Schools | Leave a comment
Tags: Books about China for kids, Books about Chinese Zodiac, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Tale of Oswald Ox, The Year of the Dog

Desmond Dog and I had the BEST day yesterday at my old friends, Australian International School Hong Kong, when I warmly and expertly hosted by primary librarian Nicole Atkins (above)! All the classes from Prep right up to Grade 6 met my dashing dog in four fun story reading sessions – not to mention also meeting that extraordinary pirate queen Ching Shih and her Red Flags! It’s been 9 years since I first read The Tale of Oswald Ox to the AISHK kids, and I’ve visited them almost every year since with each new Chinese Calendar Tale! It’s wonderful to think that my series has grown up with this lovely school and its teachers and students and gives me many fond memories. More photos to come, but in the meantime just look at the number of books in the photo below that Harry Harrison and I and our terrific team have created over the last 12 years!

Ahoy there! Just 31 days left to enter your Dashing Dog Story in my Clever Competition!

February 20, 2018 at 2:38 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a comment
Tags: Ching Shih, Clever Competitions, Harry Harrison, The Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog, Writing Competitions for Kids

Short pic of Ching Shih Ching Shih would like to remind you all that you have only 31 days left until the deadline of the Dashing Dog Story Competition! She would also like to remind you that failure to enter might just result in your being tied in knots and hoisted overboard!!!!

So heave ho me hearties, and send those stories in! It’s very chilly at the bottom of the South China Sea! All the details you need are here!

Ooops! Harry sends a naughty Chinese New Year greeting…

February 20, 2018 at 2:16 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year | Leave a comment
Tags: Books about Chinese Zodiac for kids, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Harry Harrison, The Dirty Stories, The Year of the Dog

Now I know that I do bang on about not using toilet humour in your stories for my Clever Competitions…but I can’t resist sending you this fabulous Chinese New Year greeting from Harry Harrison, beloved illustrator of the Chinese Calendar Tales and the Dirty Stories! It made me giggle out loud – and I especially love the look on the dragon’s face! Thanks Harry for keeping us all laughing this Chinese New Year!

Happy Year of the Dog from Desmond in Hong Kong!

February 16, 2018 at 5:14 pm | Posted in Books about Chinese Zodiac | Leave a comment
Tags: Chinese New Year, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Year of the Dog

Kung Hei Fat Choy or Gong Xi Fa Cai, depending on whether you live in Hong Kong or Mainland China! And Happy Year of the Dog to everybody else! Desmond and I wish you a WOOFY New Year full of good fortune, fabulous frolics and fearless fun!

Hooray – Storm Whale has reached the Long List for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018!

February 15, 2018 at 8:34 pm | Posted in Book Awards, Storm Whale | Leave a comment
Tags: Allen & Unwin, CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018, Jane Tanner, Long List, Old Barn Books, Storm Whale

Storm Whale cover

I’m so excited! Storm Whale is one of 20 illustrated children’s books in the UK which has reached the Long List for the prestigious CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for 2018 see here! This medal is awarded for excellence in illustration, and Jane Tanner, the wonderful artist who illustrated my story Storm Whale, well and truly deserves this recognition, as I’m sure you’ll agree! It is such an honour for me to be associated with such exceptional work and such a famous award. Thank you Jane, and everyone at Allen and Unwin in Australia (primary publisher) and Old Barn Books (UK publisher) for your faith in this book! Now we just have to wait until 15 March to find out if Storm Whale reaches the Short List – cross your fingers!

And if you don’t have a copy of Storm Whale yet, remember you can purchase it exclusively in Hong Kong on this sales site!

A fabulous family of fans send this photo!

February 14, 2018 at 8:13 am | Posted in children's literacy, Fantastic fans! | 3 Comments
Tags: Books about Chinese Zodiac, Reading With Your Kids, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster

I was very honoured today to receive this lovely photo of one of my young fans, Osman Pasha, with last year’s book The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster! Osman’s mum Janana tells me that Pasha and his older brothers have grown up reading my Chinese Calendar Tales and they love them! She tells me that, being of Russian speaking background educated on Pushkin and Lermintov, she really appreciates the rhythm and rhyme in my poetry – thank you so much Janana for your lovely message and for allowing me to post this photo! I’m delighted to meet you and Pasha and please do send my warmest wishes to your boys!