Sarah Brennan Funny & Fabulous Blog

Doncaster Gardens Primary School was Fabuloussssss!

What a fantastic day I had today at Doncaster Gardens Primary School! It felt almost as if I was home in Hong Kong, with a vibrant multicultural community of teachers and kids who were all so knowledgeable about, and interested in, all things Chinese! It was a day full of fun and fascinating facts! We had story readings for the Preps to Grade 4s with Chester Choi and Sybil Snake, my How to Write a Riveting Story Workshop with the Grade 5s and my Publishing a Book Workshop for the Grade 6s. Then my wonderful host, EAL head Kathy Given (pictured below with the children), took me on a tour of the school’s Chinese art creations, made by the children under the guidance of their wonderful art teacher Grace Cheung, including a beautiful blue Chinese Dragon (name of the DGPS Dragon), an Endangered Animals Garden which was enabled by a grant from the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools program, and an extraordinary felt tapestry entitled “East meets West” which was inspired by a magic carpet and depicts the different types of animals that  can be found in different countries, including China and Australia of course! Aren’t they fantastic?! See my photos below!

A Case of Clever Calligraphy!

Ni Hao to Adam, a clever young man from Scotch College, where I visited on Monday (see below). Adam is learning the ancient and beautiful art of Chinese calligraphy from private teacher Jason Huang, and very kindly asked Jason to create a very special gift for me: 12 gorgeous red-and-gold-flecked paper diamonds bearing the names of the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac! Here I am with Adam, my bad Billy Boy dragon (cousin to Chester Choi who as we all know eats children) and the sign for Dragon or lung. Thank you Adam and Jason! And if you’d like to see all 12 signs, keep an eye on my Which Zodiac Animal Are You? page above – I’ll be uploading them shortly!

Kung Hei Fat Choi to Coburg West Primary School!

It was a very happy Chinese New Year at Coburg West Primary today where I visited Grades 3 to 6! We read my Chinese Calendar Tales and learnt how to write great stories, and all in all, had a lot of fun! Here I am with the terrific Daniel Copping, who kindly invited me to the school, and, from left, Ebony, Isabella and Ari. Big thanks to Marcus Stoic, just 7 years old, who took this brilliant photo!

Hello all you SSSuper SSStudents of Scotch College!

Today I had a fantastic day at the wonderful Junior School at Scotch College in Melbourne! We had five busy story sessions, and I read a host of stories to the boys, from The Tale of Sybil Snake to The Tale of in Yin Panda to The Tale of Rhonda Rabbit to The Tale of Temujin! It was funny and fabulous and full-on, and I had a ball! Thank you to the lovely Jocelyn Pride, Head of Junior School Library, who hosted me, pictured above with me and Zingora, Scotch’s very own Chinese super-dragon, made by the boys in 2009 to honour the Beijing Olympics. You can find out more about him at http://www.scotch.vic.edu.au/gscot/09maygs/22.htm.

Aieeeya! Here I am live on ABC3 TV!

If you’d like to see me in action talking about The Tale of Sybil Snake and throwing cream pies on ABC3 TV yesteday, just click on the link below on the Picks of the Week Section – Aiiieeeeya!

http://www.abc.net.au/abc3/studio3/

Great news – the ABC3 program is airing this afternoon from 3pm !

All’s well that ends well, and my segment with ABC3 will be airing from 3pm this afternoon and the second segment tomorrow at 6.30am. So please do tune in to watch if you’re able to! I’ll post the link to ABC archives afterwards, and upload the program on my website soon!

My apologies…

My apologies to any lovely fan who got up early this morning to watch me on ABC3TV for Kids – I watched it too, and they DIDN’T screen my recording or anything about Chinese New Year for that matter! I”m assuming it will be on tomorrow (Monday 6.30am to 8.40am)) so stay tuned! I”ll post a link or recording as soon as I can!

Kung Hei Fat Choi! What a fabulous Chinese New Year’s feast!

Now THIS is what a Chinese New Year’s feast looks like! According to Chinese tradition, there are the four special meats, beef, fish, chicken and pork, and all sorts of delicious pastries and other delicacies. I was very honoured last night to be invited to my friend Lucy Liu’s home for a delicious feast and Chinese New Year’s Eve celebration, with dumplings at midnight to welcome the New Year! Thank you Lucy for a memorable evening!

Families can get published too!

Introducing Sue Ogilvie and her two kids Aimee and Liam Comas!  Sue is the author of the hilariously funny Agatha Twisty in Who Stole the Queen’s Diary, published by Apple Orchard Books, about a smart and savvy girl detective who loves solving school mysteries! It’s fabulous fun and a must-read! But the even more special thing is that Sue’s kids Aimee and Liam were the illustrators! How’s that for talented?! It all goes to prove that you’re never too young to be published!