Ming Kee Monkey creates mischief at WISS!

November 7, 2016 at 9:05 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, children's literacy, Chinese Calendar Tales, School visits, Shanghai schools | Leave a comment
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Today Ming Kee Monkey and I – and all the other Chinese Calendar Tales beasties – had a fabulous day at Western International School Shanghai! We had three fun story readings, where everyone from the Grade Ones to the Grade Fives heard The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey and all the scrumptious history behind it! Here I am above with my lovely hosts, Head of Libraries Fiona Collins on the right, and Primary Librarian Isolde Rosevear on the left, who looked after me beautifully all day! I can’t wait to read all the WISS entries in my Horribly Hilarious Halloween story competition!

A Fabulous Day at SUIS Hongqiao!

October 31, 2016 at 6:00 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese Calendar Tales, Monkey story, Shanghai schools, workshops, Writing competitions for kids | 2 Comments
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My Shanghai schools tour kicked off to a wonderful start today at Shanghai United International School in Hongqiao with the fabulous Grade 4 students! After a fun story reading, where I introduced the kids to The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey and the fascinating 7th century Chinese history behind it (not to mention The Legend of the Monkey King written 9 centuries later!), we had two writing workshops about story planning, full of handy hints about How to Write a Riveting Story!  I was very happy to hear that loads of SUIS kids intend to enter my Horribly Hilarious Halloween Story Competition – I can hardly wait to read their stories! Huge thanks to the lovely Shelly Nasseri, Head of English, for being such a warm and welcoming host.

The Results are Out in my Hair-Raising Halloween Poem Competition!

November 27, 2015 at 4:43 pm | Posted in Writing competitions for kids | Leave a comment
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Aaaaagh! Eeeeek! Brrrrr! ! That’s how I’ve been feeling while judging all the entries in my Hair-Raising Halloween Poem Competition! It’s been absolutely terrifying – and not just because of the large number of entries! There were a huge 127 entries this time, from 27 schools in Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Western Australia, Seattle US, and the UK! There were even entries from whole classes! And the entries were all so gruesomely great, making my job even harder! But at last I’ve come to my decision and the top ten entries in each Category have just been posted on my Clever Competitions page – so click on the Clever Competitions link above for a hair-raising literary experience! Special congratulations to Madeline Painter, Grade 3, Stamford International School, Singapore (Winner of the Years One to Three Category) and Aria Fafat, Grade 5, Canadian International School Lakeside Campus, Singapore (Winner of the Years Four to Six Category), for their magnificent entries. They’ll each receive a free signed copy of one of my books!

 

 

Mwahaha! My Hair-Raising Halloween Poem Competition for Primary School Kids starts TODAY!

October 5, 2015 at 11:25 am | Posted in Writing competitions for kids | Leave a comment
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Mwahaha! Halloween is coming fast, and all the fun of trick or treating, pumpkin lanterns, cobwebs, spiders, ghosts, witches, haunted houses, sweet treats and scary costumes for kids, and, of course, dental bills for Mum and Dad! It’s been five long years since our last Halloween writing competition – so I think it’s high time for another one! You can write any kind of poem, provided it’s about Halloween! I’ll be looking for fantastic vocabulary, original ideas, lots of detailed descriptions and that special CHILL FACTOR to make the hairs rise on the back of my neck! You’ve got just SIX WEEKS to get your entries in this time: the deadline date is Sunday 15th November 2015. Go to my Clever Competitions page above for all the rules and information!

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