Desmond Dog the Hero visits Kennedy School!
January 18, 2018 at 5:37 am | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Kennedy School, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Ching Shih, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, Stories about pirates, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog
Desmond Dog, the hero of Hong Kong, is so noble he even saves drowning cats! But yesterday there was not a cat in sight when he visited the 900 kids of Kennedy School in Pok Fu Lam! We had 3 fabulous reading sessions and the kids made expert pirates and dogs with their “ah-ha-me-hearties” , “woof“s and “ROAR”s! Everybody LOVED Harry Harrison’s funny and fabulous illustrations, and was fascinated to hear the history of that notorious pirate queen Ching Shih! Many thanks to all the lovely staff and especially Jeff Moore, Head of English, who was my wonderful host! Photos to come!
Desmond starts his Hong Kong tour early!
January 16, 2018 at 12:50 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings, workshops, Writing competitions for kids, writing workshops for children | Leave a commentTags: Chinese history, Ching Shih, Hong Kong history, How to Write a Riveting Story, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, Stories about pirates, The Tale of Desmond Dog
Desmond Dog got off to an early start (a month before his official year begins!) yesterday when I visited one of my favourite Hong Kong schools, Kingston International School in Kowloon Tong! The Grade Ones met Desmond first, and as such, had naming rights for the two little creatures that Harry Harrison always adds in to his wonderful illustrations! See my next post to find out what they called them! The Lower Primary school all had fun pretending they were pirates, like the infamous baddie in the story, Ching Shih, with many a ferocious “Aha, me hearties!” but were reminded at the end of the story that Crime Doesn’t Pay! They also learned about Hong Kong’s early history! Then the Grade 4s to 6s all took part in my How to Write A Riveting Story workshop! I can’t wait to see their entries in my new Dashing Dog Story Competition! Warm thanks to Jade Englebracht who hosted me – I had a ball! More photos to come!
A wonderful morning at Diocesan Girls Junior School
December 14, 2017 at 7:21 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Diocesan Girls Junior School, Growhouse, How to Become a Great Writer, Storm Whale
Many thanks to my hosts, teacher Rachel Yu (above) and PTA parent Hynn Ming Lau, for inviting me to talk to the lovely young ladies of Grade One to Three at Diocesan Girls Junior School in Hong Kong yesterday. First I read the girls my beautiful new story Storm Whale, which was followed by dozens of eager questions about whales, some of which I had to admit were so tricky that I could not answer them! Then I gave the girls my Top 12 Tips to Become Great Writers in the Digital Age – and I was so impressed by their focus and understanding of this very topical and important subject! I’m quite sure that they will be strictly limiting their time on digital screens and greatly increasing their time spent reading books from now on! I look forward to receiving lots of DGJS story entries in my next Clever Competition! Thank you to my old friend Matt Steele of Growhouse for organising the event and co-ordinating the fabulous book sales!
Judging at the KidsLitQuiz Hong Kong!
December 14, 2017 at 6:01 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Hong Kong Schools | Leave a commentTags: Kids Lit Quiz
Last Friday, I had the great honour of being one of a panel of four judges at the Kids Lit Quiz Hong Kong competition held at German Swiss International School! It was great to judge alongside my friend and fellow Hong Kong author, Mio Debnam, and to catch up with my old friend GSIS Librarian Jun Niu, who is National Co-ordinator for Hong Kong.
The Kids’ Lit Quiz is an annual literature quiz for students aged 10 – 13 years. Quizzes are held in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and USA. The winning team from each heat competes in a National Final, then the National champions compete in the World Final. The quiz was founded by New Zealand quizmaster Wayne Mills, who reads enough books to write several thousand questions each year! For more information, click here.
On Friday, over 20 teams from Hong Kong schools competed, answering questions from books as diverse as Humpty Dumpty and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith! The winning team was Hong Kong Home School Team 1 (pictured with me above), with Harrow International School Team 1 placing second and Creative Secondary School placing third. The winning team will be representing Hong Kong in the World Finals in Auckland, New Zealand in July 2018! I wish them all the luck in the world!
Many thanks to Anne Simpson for the wonderful photos!
Thank you Think International School!
November 24, 2017 at 12:15 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Poetry Workshops for kids, writing workshops for children | Leave a commentTags: How to Write a Riveting Story, Introduction to Poetry Workshop, PLK CKY School, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Yesterday I spent a happy day at Think International School in Cheung Sha Wan with the Year 4 to 6 students and their team of dedicated teachers. We started with a story reading of The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, when the kids learned a LOT of history about the end of the Chinese Empire and the growth of nationalism and communism in China at the beginning of the 20th Century – and had fun cheering for their favourite team in the Shanghai Cup! We then followed with two Introduction to Poetry workshops for the Year 4s and Year 6s, and my How to Write a Riveting Story workshop for the Year 5s! It was a full-on day of learning and fun! Thanks to my hosts Melanie Bates, and librarian Christine Olsen and assistant CK Tam (both pictured above) for a fabulous day!
Three fun poetry workshops at PLK CKY!
November 24, 2017 at 12:01 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Poetry Workshops for kids | Leave a commentTags: Introduction to Poetry Workshop, PLK CKY School
On Tuesday I visited the fabulous Year 4s at PLK CKY school in Piper’s Hill, Kowloon with my Introduction to Poetry Workshop! We had great fun exploring different styles of poetry, then breaking out into groups to complete that crazy poem Let’s Destroy the School! Warmest thanks to Joli Moore, librarian, who hosted me again! It’s always such a pleasure to see you all!
A Riveting Story Time at PLK CKY!
November 3, 2017 at 9:23 am | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, PLK CKY School, workshops | Leave a commentTags: How to Write a Riveting Story, Storm Whale, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
A big hello to two of my favourite Hong Kong librarians Tammy Ng and Joli Moore, at Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School in Piper’s Hill, Kowloon, pictured with me above. Joli (to my left) was my wonderful host yesterday for 3 fabulous workshop sessions with the gorgeous Grade 3s, who enthusiastically joined my How to Write a Riveting Story workshop! We had lots of fun thinking working with our five senses to describe different settings and imagining great characters, and the kids all enjoyed my famous adventure story (about the missing dog and the alien abductors) and mystery story (about the missing teachers at PLK CKY :)) as we talked about correct story structure! And I showed them all my latest Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, and my beautiful new book Storm Whale I can’t wait to meet the Grade 4s with my Poetry Workshop in 3 weeks’ time! More photos to come!
Thank you Kowloon Junior School!
October 30, 2017 at 6:28 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Kowloon Junior School, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Chinese history, Chinese Zodiac, Storm Whale, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Today I had the great pleasure of visiting my old friends at Kowloon Junior School! My lovely host was librarian Carrie Davison, above, who organised a fun-filled day of story readings! I saw four big year groups: the Grade Ones met my hungry dragon in The Tale of Chester Choi; the Grade Twos heard all about the Legend of Lord Buddha’s Race – and why pandas aren’t in the Chinese Zodiac, in The Tale of Pin Yin Panda; the Grade Threes heard my lyrical story Storm Whale and fell in love with Jane Tanner’s gorgeous illustrations of the grand old whale, and the Grade Fours got a fabulous history lesson all about the end of imperialism in China … as well as a fun story reading of The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster and a talk about the symbolism in the Chinese Zodiac! Phew! It was a busy day, but a fun one! More photos to come soon!
A Whale of a Time at Glenealy School!
October 26, 2017 at 9:11 pm | Posted in Glenealy School, Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Storm Whale, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Today I had a fabulous time at Glenealy School in Hong Kong, introducing the Grade 5s and 6s to my noisy Rickshaw Rooster (and some REALLY juicy Chinese history), and the Grade 1s to Grade 4s to my beautiful Storm Whale! The kids were so full of interesting comments and questions, and I think we can conclude that just about everybody loves whales…and roosters! Huge thanks to my wonderful host, the lovely Gisele Stones (holding Storm Whale, above) and to her fantastic library assistants Stephanie Mathyssek and Elaine Pullinger to our left and right! Afterwards I had the great pleasure of meeting Gavin Coates, the author of the fabulous Earthy series! Here we are above, to the right! More photos below!
Thank you Shatin Junior School mums and dads!
September 8, 2017 at 6:15 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Hong Kong Schools, School visits | Leave a commentTags: How to Create Writers in the Digital Age, Shatin Junior School, Top Tips to create literate children
Last night I had the great honour of speaking to over 150 parents of Shatin Junior School students about How to Create Writers in the Digital Age. I talked about the growing body of science showing the benefits of reading print books for the brain…as well as the problems of digital addiction amongst children, from infants to teenagers, and the shortcomings of screens for developing brains. I talked about the importance of imaginative play, and limiting time spent on extra-curricular activities so that children have plenty of free time. I also talked about redesigning the home with bookshelves, reading lamps and books galore, and regular outings to bookshops and libraries to browse the shelves. And a lot more! It was great to be amongst such motivated mums and dads! Many thanks to my wonderful host Karen Middleton!
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