Just 11 days left in my Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition!
September 19, 2017 at 12:51 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions, Storm Whale | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Storm Whale, Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition
Detail from Storm Whale by Sarah Brennan and Jane Tanner, Allen and Unwin, 2017
A big HELLOOO to the wonderful writers who’ve submitted their entries into my Wonderful Whale Haiku competition! We’ve had entries so far from students in 9 different schools in Adelaide, Brisbane, Chicago, Hong Kong, Kolkata, Shanghai and Singapore! But there’s still 11 days to go! If you love whales, and haikus, and haven’t entered my competition yet, make sure you go straight to my Clever Competitions page above for all the details! I can’t wait to read your entry!
The Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition is hotting up!
August 21, 2017 at 10:45 am | Posted in children's literacy, Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Church of England Grammar School Brisbane, Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition, writing competitions
A big hello to the Grade 4 boys at Churchie in Brisbane for their fabulous Whale Haikus which I’ve just received today! I’ve loved reading them and all of you are now entered in my Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition – well done!
And for all of you who haven’t entered yet, remember you have 40 days left to get your entries in. That might seem like a long way away but remember that time flies, and it’s often the early birds who catch the worms, to mix a few metaphors just for fun! I hope to read your entry soon!
Some wonderful Storm Whale reviews in the UK
August 15, 2017 at 11:40 am | Posted in Book reviews, Clever Competitions, media articles, Storm Whale | 2 CommentsTags: Book Bag, Clever Competition, Minerva Reads, Old Barn Books, Storm Whale, Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition
Hello my friends! I hope you’ve had a GREAT school holiday! It’s been a long, quiet summer holiday here in Hong Kong, and I’m feeling wonderful – especially when I read the lovely reviews Storm Whale has been getting in the UK, where UK publisher Old Barn Books released our beautiful story on the 1st August!
Here are two new reviews:
Best picture book of the year from Clare Zinkin at http://www.minervareads.com/storm-whale-by-sarah-brennan-illustrated-by-jane-tanner/
And five stars from Anne Thompson at http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Storm_Whale_by_Sarah_Brennan_and_Jane_Tanner who says it its the most beautiful picture she’s read for a while!
And speaking of whales…I still haven’t received your entry in my Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition! So go to my Clever Competitions page on the link above, or here for all the information, and start writing!
A Fabulous International Holiday Writing Challenge: The Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition!
June 19, 2017 at 1:09 pm | Posted in Book launches, Buying my books, Clever Competitions, Storm Whale | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, Books about whales, Clever Competitions, Haikus for kids, Jane Tanner, Storm Whale, Wonderful Whale Poem Competition
Don’t you just love whales? These beautiful giants of the deep are so intelligent and wise, and they’ve lived at peace in their watery world for many thousands of years, in a way that we silly human beings simply cannot seem to manage up here on the earth! And many of you will know that my new book with Australian publishers Allen & Unwin, called Storm Whale, illustrated by the award-winning Australian artist Jane Tanner, has just been launched in Melbourne! So to celebrate these beautiful animals – and Jane’s and my beautiful new book – I thought it was high time that we celebrated these wonderful animals in a Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition!
The competition is open to any kid of Primary School age, anywhere in the world.
You’ve got lots of time for this one: the deadline is Saturday 30th September 2017, so you can have a lovely time over your upcoming holidays thinking about whales and writing your poem!
Go to my Clever Competitions page above for all the rules and requirements!
And if you love the illustration above, and want to purchase your own copy of our new book, just click on the link here: http://www.chinesecalendartales.com!
Helloooo Brisbane…and my last school visit of the tour- with the boys of Churchie!
June 5, 2017 at 3:44 pm | Posted in Australian schools, Brisbane schools, Clever Competitions, Poetry Workshops for kids | Leave a commentTags: Churchie, Introduction to Poetry Workshop
Thank you Churchie (Anglican Church Grammar School) in Brisbane for a fabulous day today! I met all the Fantastic Grade Fours in four fun sessions of my Introduction to Poetry Workshop and we had a good old mental workout unscrambling limericks, identifying haikus, writing acrostics about some long-suffering teachers (who were very good sports!) and rhyming words! AND talking about the vital importance of reading books to the development of a great vocabulary, an even greater imagination, not to mention a great life! I hope to see loads of Churchie entries in my next Clever Competition! And last but not least, my warmest thanks to my lovely host for the day, librarian Rose Hoger (see above)!
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.
Ming Kee Monkey visits Think International School!
November 28, 2016 at 6:29 pm | Posted in Chinese Calendar Tales, Clever Competitions, Hong Kong Schools, Monkey story, workshops | Leave a commentTags: How to Write a Riveting Story, The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey
A big thank you to PYP Co-ordinator John Urquhart and librarian CK Tam at Think International School for hosting me today at their beautiful new Cheung Sha Wan campus, in three fun sessions! First all the Grade 4 to Grade 6 kids heard my Tale of Ming Kee Monkey – with LOTS of fabulous Q & A afterwards – then we had two workshop sessions, where everyone learned How to Write a Riveting Story! It was busy, and a lot of fun. I look forward to your entries in my next Clever Competition!
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!
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