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!
A short but wonderful visit to Beijing!
September 8, 2017 at 5:59 pm | Posted in Beijing Schools, Story Readings, workshops | Leave a commentTags: Beijing World Youth Academy, Chinese Calendar Tales, The Dirty Stories
Many thanks to the lovely Kelly Miller (head of library) for hosting me to two fabulous days at Beijing World Youth Academy on Tuesday and Wednesday this week! I gave story readings for all the students, from Kindy to Year 5, and two parent sessions where BWYA’s very dedicated and caring parents heard my top tips for creating Bookworms and Readers in the digital Age! I had a lot of fun, and signed a LOT of books for the many kids and teachers who bought my Chinese Calendar Tales and Dirty Stories!
My Marvellous Day at MLC, Melbourne!
June 1, 2017 at 10:36 am | Posted in Australian schools, Being an Author, children's literacy, Melbourne schools, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Methodist Ladies College, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
It was wonderful to visit my old friends at Methodist Ladies College Junior School yesterday, and to catch up with my dear friend, librarian Tracey Ricchini (below)! I had SUCH a great day introducing my latest Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, to the girls from Grades 3 to 6 in three wonderful sessions chockful of history and fun, and then meeting up with my very favourite Book Bugs (above) at lunchtime for a lovely long chat about being an author, as well as a sneak preview of Storm Whale. Tracey is one of the most dedicated librarians I know, and we spent every spare moment talking about our most passionate shared interest – children’s literacy. The girls of MLC love their books, and below you can see a photo of Tilda Clohesy, a young author who has written and illustrated her own excellent children’s book! Thanks Tracey for a brilliant day and I look forward to seeing you all again next year!
A marvellous morning at St Mary’s College
May 26, 2017 at 6:35 pm | Posted in Australian schools, children's literacy, Hobart, St Mary's College, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese culture, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda
What a fun morning I had today at St Mary’s College here in Hobart, introducing my Chinese Calendar Tales! My lonely dragon Chester Choi and I met all the lovely girls and boys of Prep to Year 1, and vain but loveable Pin Yin Panda and I met all the kids in Years 2 and 3! It was a joy to work with such a lovely lot of kids and their dedicated teachers. Warm thanks to lovely Deputy Director of Junior School, Glynis Devereux, who was my host for the day, and to librarian Marylouise Jones, who invited me! I hope to see you all again soon!
Helloooo St Michael’s Collegiate girls!
May 25, 2017 at 4:38 pm | Posted in Australian schools, Hobart, Story Readings, workshops | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Introduction to Poetry Workshop, Publishing workshops, St Michael's Collegiate School, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Today I spent a fabulous morning at St Michael’s Collegiate Middle School and a fantastic afternoon at Collegiate Junior School in South Hobart! The Grade 5s and Grade 4s worked very hard – with a lot of fun thrown in – in two Introduction to Poetry Workshops, with some excellent work in rhyming words, solving limerick puzzles and writing a group haiku about their teachers :). The Grade 6 girls learned all about Publishing a Picture Book from Brilliant Idea to Final Product:- I do hope you find it helpful when you make your picture books later this year girls! And the gorgeous Grades 2 to 4 heard my Tale of Rickshaw Rooster and learned some fascinating Chinese history! And afterwards I signed lots and lots of books for my new fans! It was such fun to meet you all and I’m sure I’m going to get some terrific entries from you all in my upcoming Clever Competitions! Huge thanks to the lovely Jodie Heath for inviting me and being such a stellar host! More photos to come!
A funny and fabulous day at Kingston International School!
May 22, 2017 at 6:09 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Hong Kong Schools, Kingston International School Hong Kong, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
I’ve just had the BEST day at one of my favourite Hong Kong schools, Kingston International School, today! I met ALL the kids in primary school, as well as their lovely teachers, in some fun, very educational story readings from my Chinese Calendar Tales! The littlest kids in P1 met my hungry dragon with a lonely heart, Chester Choi, and learned all about dragons in Chinese mythology. The P2s met my vain but loveable panda, Pin Yin Panda, and found out how all the animals got into the Chinese Zodiac. And the P3s, P4s, P5s and P6s met my proud, cocky but promise-keeping rooster in this years Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, and learned some fascinating facts about the end of the Chinese Empire and the rise of the ordinary man in China! Huge thanks to my lovely hosts, Jennifer Shaw from Upper Primary above left, and Melissa Preisig from Lower Primary, above right! More fabulous photos to come!
A Cockadoodle Event at the SILF!
March 21, 2017 at 6:12 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Book launches, Literary Festivals, Shanghai International Literary Festival, Story Readings, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
On Sunday, I entertained a big roomful of fabulous Shanghai children and their mums and dads when I introduced them to my new Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster! It was so wonderful to be talking all about Shanghai’s extraordinary history, the international Concessions, Shanghai’s most famous road The Bund, and the Roaring 1920s, when my story was set, in a building that was there in the 1920s, just beside The Bund! I could just feel Rickshaw Rooster fluffing his tail feathers, puffing his chest, and getting ready to do an enormous Cockadoodle-Doo!!! Here I am, above, with a fabulous bookstand made by my terrific distributors at Obido, in M’s famous Glamour Bar. Life as an author doesn’t get more glamorous than that! More photos to come!
A fabulous day at CAC Tuen Mun!
March 14, 2017 at 8:20 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings, Tuen Mun CAC | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese history, Poetry workshops
Warm thanks to Paul Conway and the English department team at CAC Tuen Mun for inviting me to a fun, fabulous day of story readings and a poetry workshop today! It was English Week, and it was wonderful to meet such a big bunch of enthusiastic local students, who listened so well to three of my Chinese Calendar Tales, and taught me some Chinese as well! I hope to see you all again some day!
Join Rickshaw Rooster and me for some fabulous fun at the HK Young Readers’ Festival this weekend!
March 10, 2017 at 3:39 pm | Posted in Literary Festivals, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Harry Harrison, Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, The Year of the Rooster
Yippee! It’s Young Readers’ Festival time again here in Hong Kong (see Harry Harrison’s terrific flier above!), and there’s a fabulous weekend lined up at Comix Home Base in Wanchai! Come and meet the fabulous Aussie artist and kids’ author Sarah Davis on Saturday at 10am, and me and fun local author Blair Reeve on Sunday from 10am to 12.30pm! Here are all the details!
http://youngreadersfestival.org.hk/2017-programme/2017-public-events/
See you there!
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