Kung Hei Fat Choi for the Year of the Ox!

February 12, 2021 at 2:29 am | Posted in Video | Leave a comment
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Pin Yin Panda visits Kellett School for Book Day!

February 4, 2021 at 8:34 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools | Leave a comment
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A very cute little Pin Yin Panda!

What a perfect Panda! Here is a photo of one of my lovely fans dressed up as Pin Yin Panda for Book Day at Kellett School in Hong Kong today! Isn’t she cute? Thanks so much mum Melanie for sending! And a big hello to all my fans at Kellett School – I hope you had a wonderful day!

And another story competition for all you writers out there!

February 3, 2021 at 10:04 pm | Posted in Kids4Kids HK, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a comment
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As you know, I’m a great fan of Kids4Kids and their amazing work in the community creating leaders and change-makers among young people! So I’m very excited to let you know about their annual fabulous writing competition for primary school kids!

It’s open to all primary school students attending school in Hong Kong, and stories may be submitted in English, Chinese, or both, along with illustrations.  All of the submitted stories will be published on their website, and if your story is one of the ten most outstanding, you’ll be published in their annual volume! Take a look at the stories submitted last year here!

But you must get your entry in by the 28th February! So click on this link right away to register and find out more details! Best of luck!

It’s an OXCELLENT time for another Clever Competition!

January 26, 2021 at 12:28 am | Posted in Clever Competitions | Leave a comment
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Picture credit: Harry Harrison, from The Tale of Oswald Ox

Hooray! It’s almost the Year of the Ox!

And to celebrate that wise and sensible animal, it’s time we had another Clever Competition!

The Oxcellent Ox Tale Competition is an international story writing competition open to any student of primary school age living anywhere in the world! Go to my Clever Competition page right away to find out all about it! The deadline is in 8 weeks’ time, on the 28th March, so you’ve got lots of time to enter :).

I can’t wait to read your entry!

As the Rat prepares to leave town, the Ox gets ready to move in!

January 24, 2021 at 9:34 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year | Leave a comment
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Illustrations by Harry Harrison from The Tale of Run Run Rat and The Tale of Oswald Ox

At last it’s 2021, and as the Year of the Rat draws to a close in 19 days’ time, a new Zodiac beastie is coming to town! Yes, it’s Oswald Ox, carrying hundreds of great ideas for the New Year on his back! As well, of course, as his very best friend Eleanor the Cattle Egret, who loves to keep her big buddy free of annoying flies and mosquitoes, whilst at the same time keeping herself fit and healthy by eating them for dinner! Just drag the arrows above to watch what happens when Run Run Rat follows Ping Pong Pig out of the picture, and Oswald Ox moves in!

From The Tale of Oswald Ox, illustrated by Harry Harrison

Now we all know that oxen are wise and patient animals, quietly watching as the other animals on the farm scurry hither and thither, and so often overlooked. That is, until something goes wrong – and then the good old ox moves in to solve the problem. Let’s just say that in 2021, we’ll be in better hands than last year!

And if you haven’t read The Tale of Oswald Ox, and don’t know yet how he solved a great mystery on a little Chinese farm, you can get your very own copy here!

Some happy kids meet Ming Kee Monkey!

November 24, 2020 at 11:42 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Kids4Kids HK | Leave a comment
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Thank you David Wong, Director of Operations at one of my favourite reading charities, Kids4Kids Hong Kong, who has just sent me this photo of a fabulous bunch of kids from Po Leung Kuk Wong Wing Shu Primary School in Hong Kong, each holding a copy of my book The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey! I was delighted to donate the books to this wonderful charity a few months ago, and it’s great to see my mischievous little monkey spreading some happiness and fun to the kids of Hong Kong!

A Story Reading to start your week!

November 16, 2020 at 5:24 pm | Posted in Story Readings | Leave a comment
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A big thank you to Pauline Wong at Asia Society Hong Kong for sending me this link to the very first session of the Young Adventurer’s Book Club, a fantastic joint initiative from Kids4Kids and Asia Society HK, which we recorded back in June! Click on it to hear me reading Storm Whale, my multi-award listed story illustrated by celebrated Australian artist Jane Tanner and published by Allen & Unwin, inspired by my childhood summer holidays in Tasmania. You can see Jane Tanner‘s beautiful pictures as I read. You can also see me chatting with Fontaine Gibb from Kids4Kids all about summer holidays in Hong Kong, and even more interestingly, about the extraordinary sperm whale which features in my story!

Did you know that sperm whales:

  • make the loudest sound of all animals on the planet?
  • can dive 3km in search of food?
  • have their blowholes on the side of their heads?

Listen to our fun session to find out more fascinating facts about these giants of the deep! And next week I’ll be posting the link to another fun session with the Young Adventurer’s Book Club recorded earlier this year, when I read my book The Tale of Pin Yin Panda!

Thank you Class 3R for your fabulous book reports!

November 11, 2020 at 11:23 pm | Posted in Glenealy School, Hong Kong Schools | Leave a comment
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I was so happy to receive 13 wonderful book reports about my book The Tale of Run Run Rat, and equally great pictures from Class 3R at Glenealy ESF School following my Zoom visit there recently! Here are just a few pictures, from Ludovic, Chloe, Samaira, Dylan, Freda, Henie, Burhan and Adhiraaj. Aren’t they fantastic?? Thank you so much, Class 3R, for making my day!

Run Run Rat zooms into Glenealy School in Hong Kong!

November 3, 2020 at 8:51 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools | Leave a comment
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Last Wednesday I had a fantastic time visiting all the kids of Glenealy ESF School in Hong Kong by Zoom! We had two fabulous sessions, from P1 to P6, where I shared my very first story in the Chinese Calendar Tales series, The Tale of Run Run Rat, in a fun story reading, complete with those extremely naughty Chinese crickets Yin and Yang!

And right in the middle of my session with P1 to P3 the village bells here in my village in ******* rang out the 7am peel, and I was able to open the shutters so the kids could hear it! It was a truly magical moment! A big thank you to the lovely Gisele Stones, primary librarian, for inviting me!

Happy International Literacy Day!!

September 8, 2020 at 2:47 pm | Posted in children's education, children's literacy, Room to Read | Leave a comment
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Hello my friends, today is International Literacy Day! Here’s what my wonderful friends at Room to Read have to say:

Books are the gifts that never stop giving: to our minds, our hearts and our souls. They make us informed, wise, creative and above all, happy! They are the keys to a wonderful future. But some children – especially girls – never learn to read, and this can only lead to a tragic outcome. Not just for the children themselves (and for them, being unable to read means that they will never be able to lead a happy or successful life), but also for all of us. For we can only have a peaceful, stable, healthy world when everyone holds the keys to happiness and success.

So how to achieve this? It’s easy! Just click here with Mum or Dad to read more about the hugely important work of RoomtoRead, for which I am very honoured to be a Writer Ambassador. And please give as much as you can afford on this wonderful International Literacy Day.

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