A Story Reading to start your week!
November 16, 2020 at 5:24 pm | Posted in Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, Asia Society Hong Kong, Books about whales, Jane Tanner, Kids4Kids, sperm whales, Storm Whale
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!
I’m off to Canberra tonight – and I’m SO excited!
December 3, 2018 at 4:14 pm | Posted in Book Awards, Canberra, Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2018 | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, Jane Tanner, Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2018, Storm Whale
Tonight my husband and I are flying down to Canberra in Australia for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards ceremony on Wednesday morning! I’m SO excited to meet all my fellow authors and artists who have also been short-listed in the awards! Please cross your fingers for me and artist Jane Tanner who illustrated our beautiful book Storm Whale – it would be amazing to win the Children’s Books section, though I’m very happy indeed just to be on the Short List!! I’ll let you know how we get on!
Hooray – Storm Whale has reached the Long List for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018!
February 15, 2018 at 8:34 pm | Posted in Book Awards, Storm Whale | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018, Jane Tanner, Long List, Old Barn Books, Storm Whale
I’m so excited! Storm Whale is one of 20 illustrated children’s books in the UK which has reached the Long List for the prestigious CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for 2018 see here! This medal is awarded for excellence in illustration, and Jane Tanner, the wonderful artist who illustrated my story Storm Whale, well and truly deserves this recognition, as I’m sure you’ll agree! It is such an honour for me to be associated with such exceptional work and such a famous award. Thank you Jane, and everyone at Allen and Unwin in Australia (primary publisher) and Old Barn Books (UK publisher) for your faith in this book! Now we just have to wait until 15 March to find out if Storm Whale reaches the Short List – cross your fingers!
And if you don’t have a copy of Storm Whale yet, remember you can purchase it exclusively in Hong Kong on this sales site!
A Fabulous International Holiday Writing Challenge: The Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition!
June 19, 2017 at 1:09 pm | Posted in Book launches, Buying my books, Clever Competitions, Storm Whale | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, Books about whales, Clever Competitions, Haikus for kids, Jane Tanner, Storm Whale, Wonderful Whale Poem Competition
Don’t you just love whales? These beautiful giants of the deep are so intelligent and wise, and they’ve lived at peace in their watery world for many thousands of years, in a way that we silly human beings simply cannot seem to manage up here on the earth! And many of you will know that my new book with Australian publishers Allen & Unwin, called Storm Whale, illustrated by the award-winning Australian artist Jane Tanner, has just been launched in Melbourne! So to celebrate these beautiful animals – and Jane’s and my beautiful new book – I thought it was high time that we celebrated these wonderful animals in a Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition!
The competition is open to any kid of Primary School age, anywhere in the world.
You’ve got lots of time for this one: the deadline is Saturday 30th September 2017, so you can have a lovely time over your upcoming holidays thinking about whales and writing your poem!
Go to my Clever Competitions page above for all the rules and requirements!
And if you love the illustration above, and want to purchase your own copy of our new book, just click on the link here: http://www.chinesecalendartales.com!
Storm Whale’s Wonderful Melbourne Launch!
June 4, 2017 at 6:05 am | Posted in Being an Author, Book launches, Melbourne events, Storm Whale | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, Jane Tanner, Melbourne, Readings Kids, Storm Whale
Our beautiful Storm Whale splashed off to a wonderful start at the launch party at the famous Readings Kids bookshop in Lygon Street in Melbourne on Thursday night 1st June! Here are just some of the photos! Top – an original illustration from the book, by award-winning artist Jane Tanner. Isn’t it just gorgeous?
Readings Kids beautiful store front in Lygon Street.
Before the launch with my dear friend Judy Mackerras who flew in all the way from London via Sydney!
Three very important women – to me, and to Storm Whale! Top left, my wonderful agent and friend Julie Watts, top right, Jane Tanner, the renowned artist who brought Storm Whale to life in her exquisite pictures, and top centre, the lovely Erica Wagner, head of children’s books at Allen & Unwin, our fantastic publisher.
With two dear old friends, Jill (top left) with whom I went to school in Hobart many, many years ago and Stacey who lives in Melbourne; and my new friend Jane Tanner!
With Jane, Julie and my friend Tom Danby of INT Books (left), and the three gorgeous girls who were Jane’s models for the drawings of me and my sisters in the book!
Book signing after the speeches…
The shop window before and after the launch! We sold out completely!!
A big warm thank you to Readings Kids for hosting this wonderful event, and to my friends at Allen & Unwin for putting on such a fabulous party!
In Melbourne…and the Storm Whale countdown begins!
May 30, 2017 at 7:01 pm | Posted in Book launches, Bookshop event, Melbourne events | Leave a commentTags: Allen & Unwin, Readings Kids, Storm Whale
I arrived in Melbourne yesterday to some cold, bleak and windy weather – perfect for the launch on Thursday of my new book Storm Whale, where the weather is exactly the same! I’m SO excited to be meeting up at the launch with the lovely Jane Tanner, who did the exquisite drawings, my Allen & Unwin publisher Erica Wagner and my wonderful agent Julie Watts. If you live in Melbourne, please do come along – it would be fantastic to see you there!
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