A Big Hello to Hutchins!

March 3, 2016 at 5:38 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Hobart, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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Early this morning I met a big library full of Hutchins boys from Year 3 to Year 6! And they met my vain Pin Yin Panda and all the other characters in my Chinese Calendar Tales series! We had a lot of fun! Warm thanks to my friend, and teacher librarian, Kate Reid, who used to work at the Australian International School in Hong Kong! I look forward to lots of Hutchins entries in my Clever Competition (see button above) and I hope to see you all again soon! More photos to come!thumb_IMG_0035_1024

A Fabulous Morning at Fahan!

March 2, 2016 at 6:42 pm | Posted in Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Hobart, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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This morning I had the great pleasure of meeting the wonderful girls of Fahan and their terrific teachers! We had two fun story reading sessions, where the Year 2s and Year 5s met my vain Pin Yin Panda and learned all about the Legend of Lord Buddha’s Race and how the animals got into the Chinese Zodiac, and the Kinders and Years 1, 3, 4 and 6 all met my dashing Dark Horse, and learned about how the Silk Road began! It was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to receiving lots of entries from the Fahan girls in my Clever Competition! Many thanks to the lovely Megan Denman (above) for hosting me.

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Two fabulous days at Dominic College, Hobart

February 29, 2016 at 2:40 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Hobart, School visits, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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A big thank you to fabulous librarian Christine Donnelly (above left) and her lovely assistant Cath (above right) for hosting me for two days at Dominic College in Glenorchy, Hobart! Cath prepared some wonderful displays – thank you Cath! – and Christine was one of the warmest, most gracious hosts I have ever had the pleasure of working with! Thank you for a truly memorable visit!

DAY ONE: The delicious Preps and Year Ones met my hungry, lonely dragon in The Tale of Chester Choi; the Year 3s and 4s met my vain but loveable Pin Yin Panda, and I got to see the most fantastic artwork from all the year groups, who have spent weeks learning all about the Chinese Zodiac! It was such fun to see all the wonderful illustrations of characters from my books, as well as beautiful red fans and other Chinese New Year decorations: what a great way to learn all about China’s fascinating history, folklore and culture! Here are just some of the great artworks I saw:

DAY TWO: I met the Year 2s, 5s and 6s, who heard my Tale of Pin Yin Panda and The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey, and then spent a memorable hour with the Year 9/10 Creative Writing Class, giving them some inside information about How to Publish a Picture Book from Brilliant Idea to Final Product! Here is a report about my visit in the Dominic College Newsletter, just published:

Dominic College Newsletter 4 March 2016

Just 13 more days to vote in the Golden Dragon Book Awards 2016!

February 28, 2016 at 1:54 pm | Posted in Book Awards, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese Zodiac, Hong Kong Schools, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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Cute Ram

B-A-A-A-H! Rodney Ram and I would like to remind you that there are just 13 more days to cast YOUR vote for The Tale of Rodney Ram in the Golden Dragon Book Awards 2016! So if you love my shy, romantic, handsome sheep, or you love my books, or you just love lamb chops, and you are a Hong Kong school student or teacher or the parent of a Hong Kong school student, please go to http://www.hkgoldendragonawards.org/voting.html right away to cast your vote!

A busy book signing at The Hobart Bookshop!

February 27, 2016 at 7:12 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Bookshop event, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Hobart, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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Today Ming Kee Monkey and I made a special visit to The Hobart Bookshop at Tasmania’s famous Salamanca Place for a book-signing, a story reading, and a chance to meet some new fans and to introduce them to my books about the Chinese Zodiac animals! Many thanks to Janet Grecian for hosting the event! I look forward to meeting more of my Hobart fans at some fabulous primary schools this week!

A fun interview with ABC Hobart today!

February 24, 2016 at 7:34 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Press, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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Today I was up with the sparrows to record a radio interview with Ryk Goddard of ABC Hobart Breakfast show! Here’s the link if you’d like to have a listen!

https://soundcloud.com/936-abc-hobart/why-is-there-no-cat-in-the-chinese-zodiac

Thank you MLC!

February 24, 2016 at 6:54 pm | Posted in Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Melbourne schools, Monkey story, School visits, Uncategorized, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a comment
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A big THANK YOU to the lovely Tracey Ricchini, Junior School Teacher Librarian, and the fabulous girls and staff at Methodist Ladies College, for a wonderful day today! It was so good to see you all again, and to introduce you to my maverick Ming Kee Monkey, as well as the rare and exotic plants and creatures of the jungles of Yunnan Province…not to mention Emperor Taizong of Tang, the extraordinary Buddhist explorer Xuanzang, and the Legend of the Monkey King and the Journey to the West! You made a fantastic audience; thank you so much for your enthusiasm and interest! I look forward to receiving LOADS of MLC entries in my Clever Competition!

Exactly 1 month to go to enter the Mischievous Monkey Story Competition!

February 24, 2016 at 4:34 am | Posted in Monkey story, Uncategorized, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a comment
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You’d better get cracking! There is just ONE MONTH to go to get your entry into my Mischievous Monkey Story writing competition! Click on the Clever Competitions button above for all the details!

 

Hellooo Melbourne!

February 24, 2016 at 4:28 am | Posted in Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, Melbourne schools, School visits, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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A big hello to one of my favourite cities – the fabulous Melbourne! I’m on a quick visit here to visit some publishers and the lovely ladies of MLC before flying down to Hobart for a week of fun school visits and events! I’m so glad to be here and look forward to catching up with my Melbourne buddies!

Questions about voting in the Golden Dragon Book Awards 2016!

February 16, 2016 at 5:06 pm | Posted in Book Awards, Chinese Calendar Tales, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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Precious and Bright Idea

Well, my Inbox has gone crazy with questions since I wrote to you all yesterday about the Golden Dragon Book Awards! Here is a quick list:

Question: Who can vote?

Answer: You can vote if you live in Hong Kong and are

  • a student at an Affiliated School
  • a School Co-Ordinator at an Affiliated School
  • or an Interested Adult at an Affiliated School

Question: What IS an Affiliated School?

Answer: An Affiliated School is one that is registered in the competition. If your school is  not already on the list on the voting page, ask your teacher to write to the GDBA by filling in an easy form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KUs942nbmFxh7YgoQt9mJYWLScpMRQ0H9QyuLVAiR3g/formResponse

Question: What is an Interested Adult?

Answer: An Interested Adult is a member of staff or a parent of a child who goes to an Affiliated School (ie a school already on the list on the voting page!)

So if you want to cast your vote, talk to your school teacher today and ask them to make sure that YOUR school is on the Affiliated Schools list!

(And remember, if you like eating lamb chops, PLEASE vote for The Tale of Rodney Ram in the Younger Readers Category!!)

 

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