Four fabulous days with the Bookworm International Literary Festival in Beijing and Hangzhou!
April 8, 2019 at 8:00 am | Posted in Beijing Schools, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Bookworm Cafe Beijing, China photos, Dulwich College Beijing, International School of Beijing, Storm Whale, Story Readings, writing workshops for children | Leave a commentTags: Antoinette Portis, Books are a Brain's Best Friend Workshop, Bookworm International Literary Festival, How to Publish a Picture Book, How to Write a Riveting Story, Morris Gleitzmann, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig
With Antoinette Portis and Sandra Greenwell at the Bookworm International Literary Festival
Huge thanks to Peter Goff, David Cantalupo, Karen Tong and the team at The Bookworm Bookshop in Beijing for inviting me to take part in The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2019! Sadly I wasn’t able to appear at my scheduled event at the Bookworm featuring The Tale of Ping Pong Pig on the Sunday due to illness…but by Monday I was ready to fly up!
On Tuesday 26th March: I visited Dulwich College where I spent three fun sessions with Years 3 to 5, introducing the Year 3s to my hungry, lonely dragon Chester Choi; the Year 4s to Ping Pong Pig and the Yongle Emperor, and the Year 5s to Desmond Dog and the infamous pirate queen Ching Shih! Many thanks to the lovely Sandra Greenwell who was my host for the day, and to Lit Fest helper Inna Gafurova who looked after me and sold lots of my books after the sessions!
With some of my fabulous Junior School audience!
With my lovely host head librarian Sandra Greenwell (left) and library assistants Imee Acosta and Lita Tupaz (right)
Bookworm Festival helper Inna Gafurova and Sandra at the aptly named school coffee shop (right) and with some fabulously inventive pigs made in art class (right)
On Tuesday evening: New York Times best-selling author/illustrator Antoinette Portis and I spoke at The Bookworm with journalist Wendy Tang about the enormously important subject of Raising Kids to Read in the Digital Era. We had a full audience of very interested parents who were keen to hear all the recent science on the subjects of the huge benefits of reading for the brain, and the correspondingly huge problems with kids being overexposed to digital screens (and it doesn’t take much…). If you want to read more about this, take a look at my other blog,
Just because the subject was serious didn’t mean we couldn’t have fun! Here I am with Sandra Greenwell (from Dulwich College) and the lovely Antoinette Portis, my fellow panel member, with Sandra’s very naughty husband behind us!
On Wednesday 27th March: I visited my old friends at International School of Beijing, which I visited last year for a week in residence! This time I had 3 noisy sessions reading The Tale of Ping Pong Pig to Grades 3, 4 and 5. Echoes of “Run Pig, Run!” and “Stay Pig, Stay!” could be heard echoing around the playground at lunch time as the kids re-enacted Ping Pong’s mad dash around the Forbidden City, pursued by the cunning Minister of Most Important Things!
It was wonderful to catch up with my librarian hosts, and friends, Bec Taylor and Paul Wong (right). And thank you Hunt Liu from the Bookworm for looking after me!
We all had great fun, kids included!
It was lovely to be in such great company with other author visitors including famous Australian author Morris Gleitzman and New York Times best-selling Antoinette Portis!
That night I flew down to the pretty city of Hangzhou, 175 km south west of Shanghai, to stay at the aptly named Blossom Water Museum Hotel, seen in the photos below. Aren’t the gardens and the pagoda lovely?
On Thursday 28th and Friday 29th March: I visited Wellington College International Hangzhou, a new school with a very beautiful campus! We had workshops galore, with the Grade 5s learning the science behind why Books are a Brain’s Best Friend; the Grade 6s finding out How to Write a Riveting Story and the Grade 7s and I getting stuck into rhyming verse, haikus, acrostics, limericks and free verse in An Introduction to Poetry! I look forward to receiving some fabulous stories from lots of WCIH students in my latest Clever Competition! A big thank you to head librarian Bethan Amena for all her hard work hosting me and for the magnificent book sales!
Here I am with Bethan Amena (Head of Library, to my left), Piers Matthews (Director of Marketing and Admissions) and Lizzie Yang, librarian. Thanks for a lovely two days!
Workshops galore with the Grade 5s to 7s
Many thanks to WCIH’s official photographer July Qi for these lovely photos!
Oh what a lovely Launch!!
January 31, 2019 at 9:53 am | Posted in Book launches, Bookazine Exchange Square, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Bookshop event, Boxed Set, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Fabulous fans!, Hong Kong events, RoomtoRead, Writer Ambassador | Leave a commentTags: A Dirty Story, Bookazine Exchange Square, Harry Harrison, Room To Read Writer Ambassador, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig
Phew is it busy at the moment!!! I’m so busy with lots of lovely school visits and book orders that I’m very late with my blog-posts! So, my lovely followers, you are going to receive quite a number today!
First and foremost, I want to tell you about last Saturday, and the wonderful launch of The Tale of Ping Pong Pig and our beautiful new Boxed Set of Chinese Calendar Tales at Bookazine Exchange Square! We had a fabulous crowd of fans there, old and new, including many old friends who had come to our launches at the very beginning of the series!
First we had speeches from Shonee Mirchandani of Bookazine, who with her sister Arti has hosted ALL my book launches ever since A Dirty Story back in 2004; then from my dear friend Jennie Orchard, who spoke about RoomtoRead, the wonderful children’s literacy charity for whom I am a very proud Writer Ambassador. 20% of the proceeds of sale at the launch is being donated by me and Bookazine to the RoomtoRead library in India that Bookazine is generously funding! You can find out more about RoomtoRead’s fantastic work in India here.
Then I was very pleased to talk about the series and all the wonderful people who have contributed so much to its success. First and foremost, that had to be Harry Harrison, our fabulous illustrator!
Then our designers e5 and printer KK Mok at Zhongtian Colour Printing HK Ltd, who sadly could not be with us.
Then Arti and Shonee of Bookazine of course!
Then my beautiful family – my daughters Bea and Annabel (who surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers so I cried :))
And my darling husband Philippe who has supported me in every way, through thick and thin, during the 13 years of writing and publishing the series. Here he is on the right with me, Jennie Orchard and Harry!
And last but never least, my fantastic fans, including kids, mums and dads, teachers and librarians, all over Hong Kong!
Next came my story reading of The Tale of Ping Pong Pig – our very last Tale in the series, out just in time for The Year of the Pig! The kids in the audience were such fun to read to, and they and their mums and dads enthusiastically joined in whenever poor little Ping Pong ran into trouble from her nemesis, the Minister of Most Important Things! Then Harry’s annual quiz for everyone from 2 to 102, with prizes of tiny pandas for the right answers…
And then a real treat! Harry showed everyone how he draws his characters…and then the kiddies joined in!
And finally, our traditional book signing, when it’s such a pleasure to meet our lovely fans!
My daughter Annabel got her annual finger signing from Harry and me of course!
It was such a happy, exciting and colourful event, and I’d like to give my warmest thanks again to Clemence Robine, who organised the event for Bookazine and who generously allowed me to borrow some of the photos on Bookazine’s FaceBook page. You can see more here!
A fun day at the Il Mercato Christmas Fair in Pok Fu Lam!
December 3, 2018 at 4:04 pm | Posted in Books about Chinese Zodiac, Buying my books, Christmas Fairs | Leave a commentTags: Il Mercato Christmas Fair, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig
On Saturday my lovely office manager Shilpa and I had a fun day out with our table of Chinese Calendar Tales at the Il Mercato Christmas Fair in Sandy Bay, Pok Fu Lam! The market was magnificent! And at our table, we met lots of lovely fans from Kennedy School and Peak School and their mums and dads! Below you can see some of them: the two on the left are at West Island School now, but still remembered my books from their primary school days – it was great to say hello! And the young man on the right was riveted reading my new book for next year, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig!
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 commentTags: 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!
Come to the Hong Kong launch of Desmond Dog!
January 29, 2018 at 7:40 pm | Posted in Book launches, Bookazine Princes Building, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Bookshop event, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Bookazine Princes Building, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese history for kids, Ching Shih, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog
If you’re in Hong Kong on Saturday 10th February, then come and join Harry Harrison and me at the Hong Kong launch of our latest Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Desmond Dog! It’s a true Hong Kong story, set in the fishing village of what we now call Aberdeen, with a noble dog, a wicked pirate queen and lots of pirates and treasure! It’s for kids from 4 to 12 years old – and for anyone who loves dogs, Hong Kong, and Chinese history!!! I look forward to seeing you all there! And remember to RSVP to Bookazine at the number/email address on the invitation above!
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 commentTags: Chinese Zodiac, Great children's books about Chinese culture, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog
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!
3 Fabulous Christmas Fairs in 3 Fun-filled days!
December 14, 2017 at 6:31 pm | Posted in AISHK, Being an Author, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Christmas Fairs | Leave a commentTags: AISHK, Prestige Christmas Fairs, Singapore International School, Storm Whale, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Dirty Stories, The Tale of Desmond Dog
Phew! From last Saturday to this Monday, I had a ball meeting my fans and their mums and dads at a trio of fantastic Christmas Fairs! And I hope they’re having a ball reading their latest Chinese Calendar Tales, Dirty Stories, and my beautiful new Storm Whale!
We were even able to sell my fabulous new book for 2018, The Tale of Desmond Dog!
- On Saturday, my oldest daughter Bea and my lovely husband Philippe helped me to sell my books at the always-busy Singapore International School fair – we had enormous fun meeting all the SIS parents and kids, and rubbed shoulders with other friendly stall-holders we met there last year! Here I am above with one of my Summer Writing Course 2016 students Ian Chow and his lovely mum Priscilla Ko.
- On Sunday, I had another busy table at Prestige Fairs at the Conrad Hotel in Admiralty, Hong Kong – I was signing books all day and it was great to meet so many fans from so many different places! My books will now be winging their way to nieces, nephews, godchildren, family friends and even a few grandparents and in-laws in countries right around the world! Huge thanks to my lovely daughter Annabel for all her help!
- And finally, on Monday evening, I had one last table at the Australian International School Jingle and Mingle Fair where I caught up with fellow AISHK mums and dads while signing my books!
And that’s the end of my Christmas Fairs for 2017!!
Meet me and buy my books at the Conrad Fair tomorrow and next weekend!
December 1, 2017 at 1:24 pm | Posted in Book Fairs, Books about Chinese Zodiac | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Conrad Christmas Fair, Storm Whale, The Dirty Stories
Come and say hello, take a picture with me, and buy my funny and fabulous Chinese Calendar Tales, Dirty Stories and my new book Storm Whale at the 2017 Prestige Fair at the Conrad Hotel Ballroom, Pacific Place, TOMORROW 2 December, and NEXT SUNDAY, 10 December! I’ll sign all books purchased for whichever lucky newborn, son, daughter, niece, nephew, godchild, family friend…even husband and wife…is destined to receive them! I’ve even got copies of next year’s book for the Year of the Dog – YAY!
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!
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