Come and Cockadoodle Doo with Rickshaw Rooster and me today at The Repulse Bay!!
March 26, 2017 at 10:26 am | Posted in children's literacy, Chinese Calendar Tales, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Bookazine Children's Bookfest, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese Zodiac
We’re telling tales tall and terrific at the Bookazine Children’s Bookfest today at The Repulse Bay!! So if you feel in need of a magical story from 5 fabulous authors and the wonderful Talespinners – come and join us from 11am to 5pm! You can even buy signed copies of our books – yay!! See you there!
I meet a future great writer at the SILF…
March 21, 2017 at 6:29 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Shanghai International Literary Festival | Leave a commentTags: How to Become a Great Writer
Meet Dashiell, a remarkable young man, and his remarkable family Brook, Phineas and Hannah, who have been coming to my sessions at the SILF for some years now. Dash’s mum and dad are both well-known writers, and it looks like Dash is a chip off the old block! We had a lovely lunch together, during which I noticed that Dash was busy with pencils on paper! And here’s what he produced, in just half an hour:
This is Dash’s map of an imaginary country, Syldavia, which he invented over lunch! You can see its boundaries, its mountains, forests, beaches, bays and seas. You can see its capital city, its population, its national flag, its religions, its language and even its writing! This map reminded me of nothing so much as the maps and kingdoms invented by the Brontes in their Haworth parsonage back in the 19th century – and all of the Bronte children were exceptional writers, from an early age.
Dash gave me this map as a gift – which I will always treasure. But he has lots more at home! Now this is what I talk about in my sessions with kids, mums, dads and teachers, about the way great writers are created! The NUMBER ONE requirement is a GREAT imagination – and it’s very clear that Dash has an exceptional imagination. He also has great general knowledge, curiosity and the ability to think deeply. And of course Dash just LOVES reading books – lots and lots of them. And so it is inevitable that Dash will become a great writer one day.
I think we can all learn a great deal from this excellent young man. Thank you Dash.
Rickshaw Rooster is flying home – to Shanghai!
March 15, 2017 at 6:17 am | Posted in children's literacy, China photos, Shanghai schools | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese culture for kids, Chinese history for kids, Chinese Zodiac, Shanghai International Literary Festival, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Yippee! Rickshaw Rooster and I are flying to Shanghai today for 3 fabulous school visits and a special appearance on The Bund!! Which of course is where that feisty rooster runs THAT race!! I can’t wait to see my old friends in Shanghai – and to make some new ones too! – and to see my lovely fans at the Shanghai International Literary Festival at 10am at M on the Bund on Sunday!
The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster is my homage to a city that I love, that has made me very welcome over the past 9 years, and my homage also to its remarkable history that made it The Paris of the East!
And if you haven’t already booked for my session at the SILF, here’s the link! http://www.m-restaurantgroup.com/event/sarah-brennan-rickshaw-the-rooster-childrens-session/
Do make sure you see some of the other exciting sessions too – it’s a fantastic opportunity to meet authors from around the world, for both adults and children, and to hear them talk in person about their work. Not to mention having your books signed by the authors themselves!!
See you soon, Shanghai, with a great big COCKADOODLE-DOOOOO!
A funny and fabulous photo to share!
March 2, 2017 at 12:09 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Shatin Junior School | 2 CommentsTags: Book Week, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, The Year of the Rooster
Thank you Karen Hubbard, Lead Teacher of Curriculum at Shatin Junior School, and my wonderful host and friend, for this fabulous photo taken during Book Week this week! I LOVE Karen’s costume, and note how it matches the colours on the cover of my latest Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, perfectly! Not to mention Elvis the Australian Rooster (a.k.a. an Emu with two blue tail feathers) who is sitting on her shoulder! And what is he saying? Of course! It’s Cock-a-doodle-GLOMP!
Cockadoodle Doo! It’s time for a Really Riveting Rooster Tale writing competition!
February 27, 2017 at 2:28 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: China, Chinese Calendar Tales, Clever Competition, Writiing competitions for primary school kids, Year of the Rooster
It’s a brand new Year of the Rooster, and all the roosters in the world are crowing the news! So what better time to announce a brand new international Clever Competition, based on that very noisy bird!
If you’re a kid of primary school age, in school or home-educated, anywhere in the world, you are eligible to enter…for free!
This time, I need you to write me a story about a Rooster – but you also need to add in: a Chinese setting, an inquisitive bulbul (look it up if you don’t know your birds!), a ball of string, the colour coquelicot (again, you’ll need to research what that looks like!) and a fire of some sort!
The deadline for your story is Sunday 30 April and your time starts NOW! So get ready, get set, GOOOOOOOO! (as the pig says to Rickshaw Rooster in my latest Chinese Calendar Tale :)!)
See the Clever Competitions button above for more information, guidelines and competition rules!
I’m back…
January 12, 2017 at 4:39 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competition, Horribly Hilarious Halloween Story Competition
A big warm hello to all my lovely readers, with an explanation and an apology… I’ve been away from my desk for all of December, and some of November and January too, tending to my 90 year old Dad in Australia who’s been ill in hospital and my 86 year old Mum who needed help. It’s one of those times when family has to come first, but as a result I’ve let down some of you, and owe you an apology.
I especially want to say sorry to the fabulous kids who entered my Horribly Hilarious Halloween Competition, which I still haven’t been able to judge yet :(. I’m now coming up to the busiest time of my year, with Chinese New Year around the corner and a fabulous new book to promote (The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster – see Harry Harrison’s wonderful illustrations below and above) so I’m going to be extremely busy over the next few weeks and months, but promise you that I’ll be judging that competition as quickly as I can. Not just so that I can post the results, but also so that I can set a brand new writing competition for a brand new Year :)! So please accept my apologies, and be as patient as you can, and I’ll have those results out soon!
In the meantime, a Happy 2017 to all of you – I hope this year is your best yet!
About the competition results…
December 2, 2016 at 3:23 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Horribly Hilarious Halloween Story Competition
Thank you all so much for your patience in waiting for the results of the Horribly Hilarious Halloween Competition. There are over 50 fabulous entries, but I haven’t yet been able to finish the judging yet due to a family emergency with my beloved Dad in Brisbane, who now has to go into hospital for urgent surgery. I have to fly out to Brisbane tomorrow to be with him and my mum for the next 3 weeks, so all my spare moments this last week have been taken up with getting ready for the trip and re-organising all my work here in Hong Kong. But I promise I’ll finish the judging as soon as I possibly can, and hopefully before schools break up for Christmas!
Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding :). I’ll get back to you as soon as possible, I promise.
Patience, my friends…
November 28, 2016 at 6:08 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Clever Competitions, Uncategorized, writing competitions | 4 CommentsTags: Horribly Hilarious Halloween Story Competition
What a wonderful lot of Horribly Hilarious Halloween stories I’ve received from you all! I’m judging the competition now…but I’ve got a VERY busy week ahead of me, with three school visits and two Christmas Fairs in just six days, so please have patience while I get the judging finished, and I’ll post the results as soon as I possibly can!
Another fun day at PLK CKY School!
November 24, 2016 at 6:13 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Poetry Workshops for kids | Leave a commentTags: Hong Kong, poetry, Writing
Today I had a lot of fun with the fabulous Grade 4s of PLK CKY School at Piper’s Hill, Hong Kong, in three busy sessions, with my Introduction to Poetry Workshop. The sessions ended with some great group work completing a poem called Let’s Destroy the School in perfect rhythm and rhyme! Many thanks to the fabulous Joli Moore, primary librarian, for hosting me!
Just 2 more days to enter my Horribly Hilarious Halloween Competition!
November 23, 2016 at 5:24 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: competitions, Horribly Hilarious Halloween Story Competition
Ha ha me hearties! You have just TWO more days to get your entries into my latest Clever Competition, the Horribly Hilarious Halloween Story Competition! So gather up your swords, sweet buckets and wits and get that story finished and sent off right away! See my Clever Competitions page above for all the details!
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