A fun virtual visit to Stamford American International School, HK!
April 9, 2020 at 10:22 am | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, School visits, Stamford American School Hong Kong, Video, Virtual visits | Leave a commentTags: Bookds about Beijing Olympics, Books about Chinese Zodiac, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Run Run Rat, The Year of the Rat
Yesterday I had a fun virtual visit to the kids of Stamford American International school Hong Kong.We celebrated the Year of the Rat with my story The Tale of Run Run Rat, now celebrating its 12th birthday and 4th edition! After the reading, the kids had lots of questions about the story, and we also talked about what Chinese zodiac animal we were. I’m a Rat, and I had to admit that I’m a typical Rat, always on the go and very ratty when I’m bored! Many thanks to the two Lisas, Lisa Olinski and Lisa Choy, as well as the SAISHK tech team, for making it happen!
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!
Hellooo again Brisbane!
March 3, 2019 at 6:54 pm | Posted in Australian schools, Brisbane schools, Hobart, School visits, St Margaret's Anglican School Brisbane, The Hutchins School | Leave a commentTags: The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig, The Year of the Pig
Ping Pong Pig and I have just arrived in Brisbane and it’s HOT!! And a nice change from the cold weather of Hong Kong it is, I must say! My jolly little pig and I are really excited to be visiting the fabulous St Margaret’s Anglican School for the next two days! Then on Thursday we fly down to Tasmania for another fun visit to my friends at The Hutchins School and a (slightly belated) Chinese New Year celebration at Fullers Bookshop on Saturday! Keep visiting my blog for all the photos and fun!
Another great visit to Stamford American International School…with an SCMP journalist!
January 23, 2019 at 8:32 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, media articles, School visits, Stamford American School Hong Kong, Story Readings, writing workshops for children | Leave a commentTags: Books about Chinese history for kids, Books about Chinese Zodiac, How to Write a Riveting Story, South China Morning Post, Sunday Post, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig, The Year of the Dragon, The Year of the Pig
Ping Pong Pig and I continued our funny and fabulous Hong Kong School tour on Tuesday afternoon with a visit to my friends at Stamford American International School in Ho Man Tin, where I am proud to be a Global Mentor. And this time I was accompanied by Fionnuala McHugh, a journalist for the South China Morning Post, who is writing a feature article for the Sunday Post for Chinese New Year!
After photos in the Activity Room, our terrific host Lisa Olinski introduced me to some lovely parents and younger kids who heard me reading my “youngest” book, The Tale of Chester Choi, and enthusiastically joined in with contributions as to how you chop off a dragon’s head, especially if it’s threatening your Dad! Then a lovely roomful of older kids and their parents heard my Tale of Ping Pong Pig, together with a whole lot of fascinating history about the third Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Di and his best friend the explorer Admiral Zheng He and his seven epic journeys in huge Treasure Boats as far as Africa!
Lastly, I gave my popular How to Write a Riveting Story workshop to the hardy mums and children who stayed on after the story reading! It was a busy, fun day, and wonderful to see this lovely school again! More photos to come!
Say hello to our beautiful new Boxed Set!
January 10, 2019 at 6:17 pm | Posted in Bookazine Exchange Square, Boxed Set, Buying my books, Hong Kong events, Literary Festivals, Online Sales, School visits | Leave a commentTags: Book launch, Bookazine Exchange Square, Boxed Set, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig, The Year of the Pig
Well, after 13 years of publishing, we have finally finished the Chinese Calendar Tales! And we’re celebrating with this beautiful Boxed Set!
And what a fabulous 13 years it has been, ever since the publication of The Tale of Chester Choi way back in 2007! Little did Harry Harrison or I know then that this tale of a hungry, lonely dragon living by the South China Sea would be the first in a big series devoted to all the animals of the Chinese Zodiac!
Nor that the Tales would take me around the world visiting schools and literary festivals from Hong Kong to Edinburgh, Sydney to Shanghai, London to Singapore, Byron Bay to Beijing, Cambridge in England to Hobart in Tasmania and more!
Nor that I would meet such amazing fellow authors at Literary Festivals around the world such as Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler’s List and dozens of award-winning Australian novels; Tony Ross, Korky Paul and Francesca Simon, English authors of The Little Princess, Winnie the Witch and Horrid Henry series respectively; Witi Ihimaera, New Zealand author of the legendary Whale Rider; a host of famous Australian children’s authors and illustrators including Jane Tanner, Suzanne Gervay, Morris Gleitzman, Graeme Base, Leigh Hobbs, Tristan Bancks and Glenda Millard. And many other international authors, too many to list here!
Nor that I would meet Lord Christopher Patten in his office at the House of Lords and a day later, meet the Edinburgh Zoo pandas in their new home in Scotland! Nor that I would meet classrooms by Skype in Los Angeles and Western Australia; nor that I would meet young writers in countries as far away as India, South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom in my writing competitions!
It’s been a fantastic ride – albeit a roller coaster sometimes – and it’s hard to believe that the series has now come to an end.
And the great news is that now all my followers and fans can purchase a beautiful Boxed Set of all the Chinese Calendar Tales at a very attractive price! Click the link here to find out more!
And remember to come along to the launch of our final Tale, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig as well as our beautiful boxed set at 2pm on 26th January at Bookazine Exchange Square! You can register for this free event at this link!
A fun day at Green Oasis School in Shenzhen!
May 21, 2018 at 8:32 am | Posted in Green Oasis School, School visits, Shenzhen Schools, Story Readings, workshops | Leave a commentTags: How to Become a Great Writer, How to Write a Riveting Story, The Making of a Story Book, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog
On Wednesday last week I took a train ride across the Chinese border to Shenzhen, where the lovely Rachael Taylor (photo above left) hosted me for a fabulous day at Green Oasis School! The Year 1s and 2s met my dashing Desmond Dog in a fun story reading with some fantastic pirate faces and growls from the kids and teachers too! Years 3 and 4 heard all about The Making of a Story Book as I took them on a step by step journey through the writing and publishing of The Tale of Desmond Dog. Then Years 5 and 7 learned all about How to Become a Great Writer – with a bit of a challenge to the Grade 7s to get OFF their digital screens and INTO reading lots and lots of books in their leisure time! And lastly the Year 6s learned all the tricks and tools in my popular workshop How to Write a Riveting Story. And after that I met some gorgeous fans when I signed books for a whole lot of kids, mums and dads! Thanks Rachael – and all the students and staff – for another busy and memorable day at Green Oasis!
Brrr!!!! I’m in Beijing for a fun fortnight!
January 21, 2018 at 7:19 pm | Posted in Beijing Schools, School visits, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Keystone Academy Beijing, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Oswald Ox, Wycombe Abbey International School Changzhou
And just like Oswald in The Tale of Oswald Ox, in this fabulous illustration by Harry Harrison above, my mind is on the weather! I’m told it will be -4C tomorrow at NOON! But I must admit that it’s great to have an excuse to pull out my thick winter coat for once!
Tonight I’m staying at Keystone Academy, a beautiful school just near Beijing Capital International Airport, where for the next two days I’ll be meeting the primary school kids and teachers in some fantastic sessions all about the inspiration for my Chinese Calendar Tales, and how the books are planned and written. I’m hugely looking forward to it! Keep visiting my blog for all the news as I visit more fabulous Beijing schools, and the wonderful Wycombe Abbey International School in Changzhou later this week!
In the meantime, this will be me tonight – huddled up under an VERY thick duvet!
A fabulous 2 day visit to QSI Zhuhai!
September 29, 2017 at 5:48 pm | Posted in Being an Author, School visits, Zhuhai schools | Leave a commentTags: A Dirty Story, Chinese Calendar Tales, How to Create Writers in the Digital Age, QSI Zhuhai, The Tale of a Dark Horse, The Tale of Chester Choi, Writing workshops
Thank you to the lovely Heather Domenico (above left) for hosting me on Wednesday and Thursday at QSI Zhuhai! It was a very busy time, with story readings from the Chinese Calendar Tales and Dirty Stories for everyone from 2 years old to 13 years old, and writing workshops for everyone from 7 years old to graduation! Plus a talk to the parents and staff about How to Create Writers in the Digital Age – and book-signings in between! Not to mention some great chats with British poet and publisher Neil Stevens, a teacher at the school (above right). Then a fun evening with Principal Cliff Geis-Poage and his lovely wife and teacher Becca who treated me to a delicious dinner before I caught the ferry home to Hong Kong! Everyone was so warm and welcoming – the terrific staff, Theresa in administration, not to mention the mums and dads and the gorgeous kids and teens. It was my first visit to Zhuhai in mainland China, and my first visit to QSI – I hope to see you all again soon!
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!
It’s good to be back in Hong Kong!
June 13, 2017 at 2:13 pm | Posted in AISHK, Kingston International School Hong Kong, School visits | 2 CommentsTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, The Dirty Stories
Well, I’m back in Hong Kong after 3 fabulous weeks in Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane, and it’s sooooo good to be home! The very first thing to be done was to pack up the fabulous book orders from the students of Australian International School and Kingston International School where I visited the kids just before I left! Here I am signing books yesterday in my office – we packed over 300 books in total! Thanks kids – and your books will be delivered to your schools this week!
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