Ssssssss! Welcome to the Year of the Snake!
January 29, 2025 at 9:34 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year Activites, Special Offers, Writing competitions for kids, Year of the Snake | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Snake Mask, Snake story video, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Sybil Snake, Wicked Words
Kung Hei Fat Choi from Sybil Snake, the sixth and sassiest of all the Chinese Calendar Tales characters! It’s time to start off a fabulous new Year of the Snake with lots of fun and some great offers!
(1) A sssensssational new writing competition on the Clever Competitions page!
This fun writing competition is open to kids of primary school age all around the world! Take a look at the Clever Competitions page for all the details. The deadline is Friday 4th April, so start planning your story NOW!
(2) Some ssseriousssly sssuper new words to impresss all your friendsss!
Click here on the Wicked Words page to learn three fabulous new words inspired by Sybil Snake – then stun your family, teachers and friends with your newfound vocabulary!
(3) A sssensational Snake Mask to make and wear!
Chinese New Year is a great time for making animal masks! Click here for a fun free download from Education.Com for a sssuper Snake Mask to wear at your Chinese New Year party!
(4) A sneak peek at your favourite sssnake ssstory!
If you want to find out a bit more about this year’s Chinese Calendar Tale, and why I wrote the books, take a look at this youtube video!
(5) Ssstay up to date by sssubssscribing to my blog!
If you want to keep up with more news and fun about the Year of the Snake ahead, just ssscroll down this page on the right and enter your email address (of course, you should check with mum or dad first)!
(6) Two sssuper sssasssy dissscountsss on our sales website!
Go to the Chinese Calendar Tales website right away for two ssseriously sssasssy discount offers on the Complete Set of Chinese Calendar Tales and this year’s special story, The Tale of Sybil Snake!
Enjoy!
Kung Hei Fat Choi from me and Rhonda Rabbit!
January 23, 2023 at 5:31 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year | Leave a commentTags: Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Sarah Brennan's Clever Competitions, The Tale of Rhonda Rabbit
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! It’s time for THAT RABBIT to visit again!! Rhonda Rabbit, cheeky vegetable thief and sneaky wall-builder, is SO excited to be hopping about once more! And I’m 100 per cent with her!
So in order to celebrate a brand new year of mischief and fun, I have two fantastic pieces of news!
First up, I’m very excited to announce my upcoming tour of Hong Kong and Taiwan schools from 6th to 17th February! And this time, it’s IN PERSON! Hooray! I can’t wait to see all my lovely Hong Kong fans again, and to meet some new ones in Taiwan! I’ll be posting news and photos daily, so you can read all about it!
Secondly, it’s high time for a new Clever Competition! Read my next post to find out all about it!
R-O-A-R-R-R! Temujin the Tiger is back!
February 1, 2022 at 5:47 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year, The Year of the Tiger | Leave a commentTags: Books about Chinese history for kids, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Genghis Khan, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Temujin, The Year of the Tiger
Kung Hei Fat Choy!!
It’s the Year of the Tiger, and my favourite big cat Temujin is marauding again! Just like his namesake, (that boy Temujin who fought his way to becoming Genghis Khan), he’s munching his way through Mongolia right now, before turning towards China, with its magnificent masterpiece the Grand Imperial Palace (or the G.I.P for short!). But wait – who is that grumpy looking Royal Princess in the picture? And will she become just another toothsome morsel…or has Temujin finally met his match? You’ll have to read the story to find out!
Goodbye Ox, hello Tiger!!
January 31, 2022 at 4:00 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year | Leave a commentTags: The Year of the Tiger
It’s Chinese New Year’s Eve, and the wise old Ox is on his way out, ready for a good rest after a rather difficult year! And now it’s time to say a big hello to the TIGER!
Now they say that Tigers are very hard to resist! Like Temujin in my book The Tale of Temujin, they make charismatic and brave leaders, who love adventure and challenges, yet they also make sensitive and considerate friends. On the other hand, they’re also often unpredictable, and they can be very bad-tempered when they’re trapped in a corner! So it looks like this year, we might be in for a roller-coaster of a ride!!
Hold onto your seats!!
As the Rat prepares to leave town, the Ox gets ready to move in!
January 24, 2021 at 9:34 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year | Leave a commentTags: Books about China for kids, Books about Chinese Zodiac, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Oswald Ox, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig, The Tale of Run Run Rat
At last it’s 2021, and as the Year of the Rat draws to a close in 19 days’ time, a new Zodiac beastie is coming to town! Yes, it’s Oswald Ox, carrying hundreds of great ideas for the New Year on his back! As well, of course, as his very best friend Eleanor the Cattle Egret, who loves to keep her big buddy free of annoying flies and mosquitoes, whilst at the same time keeping herself fit and healthy by eating them for dinner! Just drag the arrows above to watch what happens when Run Run Rat follows Ping Pong Pig out of the picture, and Oswald Ox moves in!
Now we all know that oxen are wise and patient animals, quietly watching as the other animals on the farm scurry hither and thither, and so often overlooked. That is, until something goes wrong – and then the good old ox moves in to solve the problem. Let’s just say that in 2021, we’ll be in better hands than last year!
And if you haven’t read The Tale of Oswald Ox, and don’t know yet how he solved a great mystery on a little Chinese farm, you can get your very own copy here!
Visit to Shatin Junior by Zoom!
March 2, 2020 at 11:06 am | Posted in Chinese New Year, Hong Kong Schools, School visits, Shatin Junior School, Video, Year of the Rat, Zoom visits | Leave a commentTags: Books about China for kids, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Shatin Junior School, The Tale of Run Run Rat, The Year of the Rat, Zoom visits
I just visited the kids and teachers Shatin Junior School by Zoom, to do a fun live story reading of The Tale of Run Run Rat! We had over 120 kids logging in! Thanks so much to teachers Trudy McMillin and James Haworth for organising and hosting this fun online event! Below you can see a couple of fun video clips, and above, some photos. You can even see my little dog Mozart in one of them, enjoying the story!
Ready, steady, GO! The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020 starts NOW!
February 24, 2020 at 2:01 pm | Posted in Asia Society Hong Kong, Challenges and activities, Chinese New Year, The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020 | Leave a commentTags: Asia Society Hong Kong, The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020, The Tale of Run Run Rat
Asia Society and I are hugely excited to announce the beginning of our Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020, with fabulous prizes to be won! It’s open to all students of primary school age, especially those who are stuck at home at present! You can register right away, and you’ll have our Information Sheets and Challenge Checklist within 48 hours. You have until midnight, Sunday 15th March to get your completed entries in! Click on the form below to find out more and to register!
And good luck!
0224 The Year of the Rat Challenge (with List of Challenges)
Run Run Rat at the China Institute in New York!
February 8, 2020 at 11:32 am | Posted in China Institute New York, Chinese New Year, Events, New York | Leave a commentTags: Books about Chinese Zodiac for kids, China Institute New York, Chinese New Year Family Celebration, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Run Run Rat, The Year of the Rat
Run Run Rat scampered into the China Institute Chinese New Year Family Celebration last Sunday, and here he is having his story read by a lovely China Institute story-teller! I am assured that the room was chockful of kiddies and their parents! I can’t wait to meet some of them in person when I fly out to New York later in the year!
Thank you so much Michael Buening, Operations Director at the China Institute in New York, for inviting me, being so flexible when I had to cancel, and sending me these lovely photos! I’ll see you all soon!
Seven big reasons why I love Hong Kong!
February 5, 2020 at 11:21 am | Posted in Chinese New Year, Dragon dance, Hong Kong, Hong Kong events | Leave a commentTags: Banyan Trees, Dragon Dances, Hong Kong, Hong Kong architecture, Hong Kong at Chinese New Year, Reasons why I love Hong Kong, Saikung, The Year of the Rat
For all the recent doom and gloom about viruses and protests, Hong Kong, my home for the last 21 years, is still one of my favourite places in the world! And here are just a few reasons why I ESPECIALLY love Hong Kong at Chinese New Year!
Blue, blue skies above spectacular architecture!
Chinese New Year really is the best time of year in Hong Kong weather-wise, with low humidity and lovely bright days with cool nights – yum! And its buildings are fantastic! Above are just a few that I snapped on a brisk walk from Wanchai into Central the other day!
Flowers, flowers everywhere!
Chinese New Year is the time for spectacular fruit and flower displays at home, in the office, and on every street corner! Above are just a few I spotted on my walk through the city centre!
Extraordinary trees, some literally hanging off the walls!
The city is home to some of the most glorious banyan trees, with their aerial roots and extraordinary root systems making them a unique part of this unique city!
Fabulous decorations in shopping malls!
And in shops…
And in the streets…
And all the excitement of Dragon Dances!
Here’s a short video I took in Saikung village, in the New Territories, where four different teams of dancers, drummers and their followers circulated around the village, spreading good fortune for the New Year! Here you can see a Black Lion entering a small shop, to receive the gift of a lettuce, which it “eats” to ensure the prosperity of the shop for the coming year!
Run Run Rat goes to New York…and hits the New York Times!
February 1, 2020 at 10:33 am | Posted in China Institute New York, Chinese New Year, Events, New York, New York Times, Year of the Rat | Leave a commentTags: Beijing Olympics, China Institute New York, New York Times, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Run Run Rat, Year of the Rat
Hooray! Run Run Rat has run all the way to New York, where he’ll meet hundreds of kids, mums and dads at the China Institute during their special Chinese New Year Family Festival this Sunday! Take a look at this link in the famous New York Times: Seven Things to Do with your Kids in NYC this Weekend! I’m so sad that I can no longer be there to read out loud the funny and fabulous story of his adventures travelling around China, where he ends up running in a rather famous race during the Beijing Olympics! But a lovely story teller from China Institute will be telling his story in my place, and showing Harry Harrison’s fabulous pictures up on a screen to the audience during the afternoon, and for an ambitious little Rat, that’s very exciting! Especially in the Year of the Rat!
I’ll be posting lots of photos after the event. Huge thanks to Michael Buening, Director of Operations at the Institute, for inviting me and Run Run to take part in this fantastic event, and for his generosity and understanding over the last few days. I know the event is going to be just fantastic!
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