Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
September 16, 2016 at 10:16 am | Posted in Books about Chinese Zodiac, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese festivals, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon cakes, Moon Festival, The Legend of Chang'e, The Legend of the Rabbit in the Moon, The Tale of Rhonda Rabbit
A very happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you! I hope that you’re all enjoying the holidays today in Hong Kong. The most famous features of the Festival are moon cakes and lanterns…and here is a beautiful lantern photographed by my beautiful daughter Beatrice – thank you Bea! The Mid-Autumn Festival is also called – you guessed it – the Moon Festival, and sometimes the Mooncake Festival or the Lantern Festival! There are some lovely Chinese folk stories associated with the Moon Festival, including the Legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang’e, and the Legend of the Rabbit in the Moon. If you want to read more, you can click here: http://www.moonfestival.org/the-legend-of-chang-e.html, or, better yet, read my Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Rhonda Rabbit! You can even buy it here: http://www.auspicioustimes.com/product/the-tale-of-rhonda-rabbit/!
Just 10 more days to enter my Sunny Summer Poetry Competition!
August 21, 2016 at 10:54 am | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, writing competitions for high school kids, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: children's literacy, Faraway Short Story Competition, Sunny Summer Poetry Competition
The summer holidays have almost ended for most of us – and some of us have returned to school already! So there are just 10 more days to get your entry into my Sunny Summer Poetry Competition for primary school kids! If you haven’t submitted your entry yet, you’d better get your roller-blades on! See all the details on my Clever Competition page (tab located above). I can’t wait to read your entry!
And if you’d like to enter another competition, and you’re an Australian living anywhere in the world, and you’re between the ages of 7 and 18, there are just 7 days left in the Faraway Short Story Competition – see http://www.creativewriteit.com.au/faraway2016.html for details!
A wonderful morning at YLPMSAA Ying Yip Primary School!
June 21, 2016 at 1:59 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese Calendar Tales, Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey, YLPMSAA Ying Yip Primary School
Many thanks to the lovely Miss Brenda (left) and her assistant Hilary (right) for all their help in hosting me today at the YLPMSAA Ying Yip Primary School near Yuen Long! It was great to meet all the Year 3s and Year 4s again, and to have the chance to read them my latest book about Chinese Zodiac animals, The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey! I hope to see you all again soon!
HOORAY! You can buy my books online at last!
June 13, 2016 at 4:57 pm | Posted in Buying my books, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Online Sales | Leave a commentTags: Auspicious Times Limited, Chinese Calendar Tales, The Dirty Stories
Meet Trevor the Sheep! He’s the madcap messenger for my new online sales outlet at http://www.auspicioustimes.com! You can buy copies of all my children’s books about the Chinese Zodiac animals, as well as my Dirty Stories, with an option for having them signed, and they’ll be delivered by Hong Kong Post straight to your door anywhere in the world! FREE postage to any Hong Kong address, and VERY attractive postal rates for registered delivery to everywhere else! So what are you waiting for! Click on the link and make sure your Chinese Calendar Tales and Dirty Stories collections are up to date!
And while you’re at it, why not meet Trevor himself on the home page of my updated author website at http://www.sarah-brennan.com? He’s a very noisy beastie, but loveable too. And then read the latest updates on the Latest News page with:
- a funny and fabulous animation by Filmages of my cheeky Ming Kee Monkey
- a new Sunny Summer Poetry competition for primary school kids
- news about my exciting trip to London and the Bologna Book Fair in April
- interviews with RTHK3 in Hong Kong and ABC Hobart
- some great new teacher testimonials
- a fully revised writing workshop for Upper Primary students: How to Become a Great Writer
- photos galore from my tours in Melbourne, Hobart, Singapore and Hong Kong from February to May
- photos from the Little Star Magazine Writing Competition awards in Shanghai in April!
Have fun!
Two fabulous ladies at the AFCC 2016 in Singapore!
May 28, 2016 at 10:56 am | Posted in Being an Author, Book Fairs, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, children's literacy, Singapore, workshops | Leave a commentTags: Asian Festival of Children's Content, Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey
Say hello to two lovely friends – one old and one new – I met at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2016 in Singapore’s magnificent National Library this week! To the right is Denise Tan, owner of Closetful of Books which distributes my Chinese Calendar Tales and Dirty Stories to schools in Singapore and which was official bookseller at the Festival for the second year; to the left is the famous Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times best-selling author of over a dozen books for kids and young adults! It was a great privilege to hear her speak about writing for young adults; she’s a very funny lady! I had a fantastic time at the Festival hearing remarkable speakers and meeting writers and illustrators from all around the world – especially Asia! Best of all was that every single person I met loves BOOKS!
Two fabulous days at The Kellett School!
April 26, 2016 at 4:23 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Hong Kong Schools, School visits | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, The Kellett School, The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey, The Year of the Monkey
Many thanks to Lisa Share, head of libraries at The Kellett School, for inviting me and my Chinese Zodiac animals to two fabulous days with the Kellett kids! On Monday I visited the Pok Fu Lam campus with my mischievous Ming Kee Monkey, where the lovely Natalie Fitton hosted me to a fun day of story readings in the library with Years 3 to 5!
Today I had another lovely day at the Kowloon Bay campus, hosted by my dear friend Beth McNeilly (below left with some fabulous Kellett Monkeys) in the library. We had fun story readings for Years 2 to 4, who all met my Ming Kee Monkey and heard the fabulous true life story of the famous Buddhist explorer Xuanzang and his Journey to the West, immortalised in the Legend of the Monkey King! And it was even more special for me to bring along my oldest friend Prue Kesby (below right) – we were in Grade One together, a long time ago!
Monkey Mayhem in Bologna!
April 12, 2016 at 9:15 am | Posted in Being an Author, Book Fairs, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books | Leave a commentTags: Bologna Children's Book Fair 2016, The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey
Hellooo again everybody! If you’re wondering why I’ve been a bit silent the last week, it’s because I’ve been very, very busy! And that Ming Kee Monkey of mine has been even busier! Here I am, above, at the famous Bologna Children’s Book Fair, 2016 in beautiful Bologna in Italy! Now I was there to work and to introduce my books about the Chinese Zodiac to a lot of lovely publishers…but Ming Kee Monkey decided that it was time to play! You can see what she got up to below!
Bologna is bustling with street music, performance and art! Ming Kee loved meeting the buskers in the Old Town – here she is with a human statue, a musician playing a very modern DidgeriNew and a street artist, with his brilliant creation, Charlie Chaplin on rollerskates!
Here we are in the stunning medieval town square, called the Piazza Maggiore! Ming Kee just had to pose with the famous statue of Neptune, and tried very hard to steal the city keys! You can also see the photographs of the citizens of Bologna who joined the Resistance during the Second World War.
There was a fun competition going on in the main square for a local charity! Groups of entrants were all given identical cardboard boxes, which they had to cut up and make into towers! Above, you can see the beginning of the competition…and below, some of the results! Aren’t they clever? Needless to say, I had to hold on tight to my Monkey, who was very keen to topple those towers!
Now the main church in the square is the famous Basilica di San Petronio. I tucked Ming Kee Monkey into my bag when I visited…I couldn’t risk my Monkey causing havoc in a church! Isn’t it beautiful?
Now after all that peace and contemplation, it was time for a little exercise! Ming Kee Monkey and I climbed all 498 steps up the leaning Asinelli Tower, for a commanding view of the city and surrounding countryside! We even met an adorable little Bolognese girl, who gave my mischievous Monkey a good cuddle!
Needless to say, our climb built up a bit of an appetite! And where better to eat delicious pasta and desserts than in Bologna!
Farewell, beautiful Bologna, city of culture, history and delight. Ming Kee and I hope to visit you again soon!
A mischievous Monkey Monday at Glenealy School!
March 22, 2016 at 6:52 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese New Year, School visits | Leave a commentTags: Glenealy School, The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda
That mischievous Monkey of mine cut a dash through Glenealy School yesterday in three funny and fabulous story reading sessions with the Grade 3s to Grade 6s, and then Pin Yin Panda decided to join the fun with the Grade 1s and 2s! We all had a lot of fun! Warm thanks to the lovely Trish Oliver, librarian, enthusiast and friend, for a memorable day!
My third and final day at SJS!
March 15, 2016 at 6:17 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, School visits, workshops | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Clever Competition, How to Write a Riveting Story, Shatin Junior School
Today I was so happy to visit my friends at Shatin Junior School again for my How to Write a Riveting Story Workshop with the wonderful Year 4s! But I’m also very sad to be finishing my three day visit too! You can cheer me up again by entering my Clever Competition (see tab above), and if the Year 4s use that Story Planning Sheet to plan their stories, I’m sure they’re going to be fantastic! And thanks for the lovely book orders! You’ll have them all by next week!
A fun event for the YRI Lit Fest on Sunday!
March 14, 2016 at 1:43 pm | Posted in Bookshop event, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Literary Festivals | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Growhouse, Hong Kong Young Readers International Literary Festival 2016, The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey
On Sunday morning I had a fabulous time introducing my mischievous Ming Kee Monkey to a lovely bunch of kiddies and their parents at Growhouse in Duddell Street, Central, for the Hong Kong Young Readers International Literary Festival! Many thanks to my hosts Phillipa Milne at the Lit Fest, and Matt Steele of Growhouse!
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