Sarah Brennan Funny & Fabulous Blog

Congratulations to the winners of the HKBPA competition!

A big cheer for all the fabulous Hong Kong primary school kids who entered the Education Bureau’s Hong Kong Budding Poets Award competition! As one of the three final judges in the Primary School section, I was honoured to give a speech at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday 12th May, and what a wonderful privilege it was to hear the four winners recite their winning poems! I was so impressed with the wonderful vocabulary, sparkling imagery and powerful feelings that all the poets expressed! The winners were: Champion: Cheng Yi Ting, Diocesan Girls’ Junior School; First Runner-Up: Ho Yan Mong, John , Ying Wa Primary School; Second Runner-Up: Stephanie Leung, Diocesan Girls’ Junior School; Third Runner-Up and Best Improviser of the Year: Serena Tsui, Diocesan Girls’ Junior School. Well done everyone and keep on writing!

Thank you and farewell to the wonderful Maurice Sendak

Yesterday the great American artist Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of the multi-award-winning children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, died at the grand old age of 83 after suffering a stroke.  I know that every kid and mum and dad who has loved his scary, exciting and beautiful adventure about Max, the boy who sailed off in a boat to where the Wild Things are – and all the plays and films made out of it – will be feeling a little bit sad today. But maybe we should also celebrate his life and his amazing talent, and just feel glad that while he has left us now, his work lives on forever!

Do you want to become a great AUTHOR?

Hello all you budding writers out there! Put your hand up if you’d like to become a great author some day! I get so many questions from so many kids on my blog and during my school visits about HOW TO BECOME AN AUTHOR that I thought I’d create a special page on my blog just for you! If you look at the tabs above and to the right, you’ll see my brand new Top Ten Writing Tips for Kids! Every week for the next ten weeks (excluding July – even authors need a holiday!) I’ll be posting a new Top Tip, so that by the end of August you’ll be able to read them all!

Go to my Top Ten Writing Tips for Kids Page right away for

Top Tip Number One: Great Readers Grow into Great Writers!

Are you a little bit…well…different? Congratulations! That makes you IDIOSYNCRATIC!

Are you a bit quirky and odd? Do you have funny habits that no one else has? Do you write with your tongue sticking out, or do you twirl your hair around your nose when you’re working, or do you run with a bit of a hop, or do you have a laugh like a hyena? THAT’S FANTASTIC!  Because that’s what makes you an original! And original people are the BEST! It also makes you IDIOSYNCRATIC, and all those funny habits of yours are called IDIOSYNCRASIES! Go to my Wicked Word page right away to find out all about this great new word…then USE it!

FOUR of my books make the Top Ten at Discovery College!

A big THANK YOU to Leanne Sercombe, teacher librarian extraordinaire at Discovery College, for writing to me today to tell me that FOUR of my books are in the Top Ten most popular DC books shortlist in their DC awards! I’m tickled pink!

Hello all you clever kids at Man Kiu Association Primary School!

Hello and thank you to the wonderful teachers and students of Grades 1 and 2 at Man Kiu Association Primary School in Ngau Tau Kok for a great afternoon yesterday! We learnt all about the importance of reading lots of books in the internet age – and how reading books wires the brain for imagination, concentration and deep thinking, and leads to a healthy, wealthy and happy life! Special thanks to dedicated teacher librarian Iris Chan for inviting me!

Pigs don’t fly…

But they do make friends with SPIDERS! Take a look at my Brilliant Books page above to find out all about a very cute little pig, his mentor and friend the intelligent and kind Charlotte A. Cavatica (who just happens to be a hairy grey spider!) and his perilous adventures on the farm! And if you want to find out more about the creator of this story (which is one of the best-loved children’s books of all time), make sure you go to my Amazing Authors page right away!

Thank you Maryknoll Convent School!

A big thank you to the principal Mrs Josephine Lo, wonderful librarian and parents Mark Shuper and Winnie Tse of Maryknoll Convent School in Kowloon Tong for a wonderful afternoon yesterday with their gorgeous Grade 2s! We chatted about favourite books, the importance of reading, and especially about how to write really riveting stories! It was great fun and I look forward to receiving some terrific entries in my new writing competition!

Welcome back to school…and a fabulous new Clever Competition!

Welcome back to school – I hope you all had a wonderful Easter/Spring break! And now there’s just one more term left this school year for most of you – what fun! So what better way to celebrate than to enter my latest Clever Competition!

Now Chester Choi has been fuming since Chinese New Year and tells me it’s high time that Pin Yin Panda took a back seat! After all, it’s really the Year of the Dragon, whatever Pin Yin Panda says! So this time the competition is all about Chinese Dragons! But not just Chinese Dragons…it’s also about Jade! Hmmm…if you think that sounds mysterious, you’re right! Go to my Clever Competition page right away to find out all about it! Entries must be in by Friday 8th June so get your skates on and start planning that story!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

A very happy holiday to all you kids out there! I hope you’re all having fun and catching up on reading all those fabulous books you didn’t have time to read in term time! Some of you might even be writing for fun! I always say that if you write just for the fun of it, you’re BOUND to become a famous author one day! So go on – give it a go! You might try writing a funny poem, or a really riveting story, or even just keeping a journal or diary about what you’ve been doing or your dreams for the future. It’s all great practice for that best-selling book you’re going to write one day!

Above all, make sure you’re having lots of FUN and as soon as you’ve read this message, TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER and get out there into the big wide world of playing, exploring, running around, inventing, swimming, drawing, cooking, creating, writing and of course, READING! That’s how to keep your brain fit and happy and ready for your fabulous life ahead!