The Dashing Dog Story Competition judging begins!
April 9, 2018 at 5:59 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: The Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition
A big THANK YOU to all you wonderful writers out there who entered my Dashing Dog Story Competition! I’ve been away in Australia looking after my Mum over the last 2 weeks since the competition deadline, so I’m just starting the judging today!
There are a whopping 68 entries, from 18 different schools in 5 different countries ranging from Doha to the United States to Australia to China! So please be patient and bear with me, and I’ll post the results just as soon as I can!
Deadline for Dashing Dog Story competition extended to 31 March!
March 4, 2018 at 2:46 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions, writing competitions | Leave a commentTags: Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, Stories about dogs, The Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition, The Tale of Desmond Dog
WOOF! You now have an extra WEEK to get your Dashing Dog Story Competition entries in! So if you’re keen on being a published writer on my blog – which will make you a WORLD FAMOUS WRITER right away – you’ve now got an extra week up your sleeve to submit your entry and try for the first 6 places! The new deadline is SATURDAY 31 MARCH 2018 – you can find all the details and information about what and how to submit by clicking this link! I can’t wait to read your entry!
Ahoy there! Just 31 days left to enter your Dashing Dog Story in my Clever Competition!
February 20, 2018 at 2:38 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Ching Shih, Clever Competitions, Harry Harrison, The Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog, Writing Competitions for Kids
Ching Shih would like to remind you all that you have only 31 days left until the deadline of the Dashing Dog Story Competition! She would also like to remind you that failure to enter might just result in your being tied in knots and hoisted overboard!!!!
So heave ho me hearties, and send those stories in! It’s very chilly at the bottom of the South China Sea! All the details you need are here!
Small is Beautiful at BIBS in Beijing!
January 25, 2018 at 7:43 pm | Posted in Beanstalk International Bilingual School, Beijing Schools, Being an Author, Clever Competitions | Leave a commentTags: Books about China for kids, Chinese Calendar Tales, Ching Shih, The Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Desmond Dog, Writing Competitions for Kids
What a happy day I had at Beanstalk International Bilingual School Shunyi Campus today! Although it was FREEZING outside, the welcome inside was warm and very friendly from everybody, from the gorgeous kids to their lovely parents to the dedicated staff! The Grade 1s met my hungry, lonely dragon in The Tale of Chester Choi; the Grade 2s screamed like spoiled princesses and roared like tigers very convincingly as I read them The Tale of Temujin; the Grade 3s and 4s learned about the world’s most successful pirate Ching Shih and about Hong Kong too when they heard The Tale of Desmond Dog, and the Grade 5s asked some fabulous questions after I told them all about my journey to becoming an author, why I wrote The Chinese Calendar Tales and that very important question – what is my writing process? I was delighted to find out that, like me, they were all firm fans of making story plans before they wrote their first draft of a story! So I’m really looking forward to some great entries from the BIBS Grade 5s in my current Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition (details on the Clever Competition page here).
Warm thanks to wonderful librarian Heather Wright (with me above) who expertly hosted me today, and thank you to the mums and dads and kids who bought over 100 books! I hope to see you all again soon!
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!
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