Watch our fab session at the HK Young Readers Festival today!
June 10, 2020 at 2:48 pm | Posted in Bookazine Princes Building, Chinese Calendar Tales, Events, Harry Harrison, Hong Kong events, Hong Kong Young Readers Festival 2020, Shatin Junior School, Video, Virtual visits, Zoom visits | Leave a commentTags: Harry Harrison, Hong Kong International Literary Festival, Hong Kong Young Readers Festival 2020, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Run Run Rat
If you just missed Harry Harrison and my fabulous video and Q and A session with the kids of Shatin Junior School Grade 3 today, you can listen here! It was so much fun! You can find out all about why and how we created the Chinese Calendar Tales, from first idea to final Boxed Set! You can even watch Harry as he draws from preliminary sketch to final painting! Thanks to Catherine Platt, director of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, for this fantastic event! And to lovely moderator Julia Kuehn; James Ryan, cub reporter, for his fabulous questions on our video; Annabel Cohen (my daughter!) for the fantastic filming and editing; Bookazine for their brilliant offer of 15% off all the Chinese Calendar Tales this June; Hugh Beames and Karen Middleton of Shatin Junior School; and Joseph, our tech advisor and supporter!!
Watch Harry Harrison drawing Jimmy Lee on video!
May 25, 2020 at 3:30 pm | Posted in Harry Harrison, Hong Kong Young Readers Festival 2020, Literary Festivals, Live drawing, Video | Leave a commentTags: Harry Harrison, Hong Kong Young Readers Festival 2020, The Tale of Chester Choi
I’ve just spent the morning with Harry Harrison and my daughter Annabel Brennan Cohen who was videoing Harry’s and my segment in the upcoming Hong Kong Young Reader’s Festival!
Here is Harry drawing Jimmy Lee from The Tale of Chester Choi, where he surfs on the tsunami! Harry is using pen and ink to copy his preliminary pencil sketch onto watercolour paper, using a light box to illuminate the pencil sketch beneath:
And here he is beginning the colouring-in with watercolour paint!
If you want to see much more, including Harry and I talking all about the Chinese Calendar Tales series (with a lot of fun thrown in!), and a Q and A session where you can ask us your own questions, you’ll have to log in to the live session! l’ll let you know exactly when that will be very soon!
And just so you don’t miss any of the fun coming up, make sure you subscribe to this blog by entering your email address in the box at the bottom of the menu to the right – OR you can subscribe to my Funny and Fabulous Newsletter Mailing List by following the instructions here!
The Results are out in The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020!
April 28, 2020 at 2:56 pm | Posted in Asia Society Hong Kong, Challenges and activities, Hong Kong events, illustrators, The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020 | Leave a commentTags: Asia Society Hong Kong, Harry Harrison, The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020, The Tale of Run Run Rat, The Year of the Rat
Hooray! The results are out in The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020!
And we’ve had so much fun judging the entries! A grand total of 55 primary school aged kids registered, and we were excited to see so many entries flooding in before the deadline date! The standard was really high too! It’s great to know that so much talent is alive and well today among our amazing young students! Hearty congratulations to all of you who completed this exciting challenge!
Extra congratulations to the Super-Challenge entrants who completed all the challenges, and to the clever kids who took our hint (you must complete at least ONE Special Challenge) and completed more of them to lift their scores!
And huge thanks to Harry Harrison for the use of all his fabulous illustrations from The Chinese Calendar Tales as well as his contribution of our fabulous Mystery Prize for the Super Challenge!
PRIZE WINNERS:
GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST ENTRY:
A Boxed Set of the Chinese Calendar Tales (RRP HK$1199) PLUS Free Family Membership of Asia Society Hong Kong for a year (Value HK$2500)
Grades 1 to 3 Category
Equal first: Clement Leung and Yvonne Yang
Grades 4 to 6 Category
Dhairya Mitesh
PRIZE FOR COMPLETING CHALLENGE:
Congratulations to everyone who completed this Challenge! We think you are brilliant! You will ALL receive FREE STUDENT MEMBERSHIP of Asia Society Hong Kong for a year (Value HK$300). Asia Society HK will be in contact with you shortly.
PRIZE FOR BEST SING! VIDEO:
The best 10 SING! Entries will be invited to perform LIVE at a special event at Asia Society Hong Kong later this year!
Winners: Only 7 entrants were brave enough to undertake this category, so in order of merit, all of them are listed below!
Clement Leung, Dhairya Mitesh, Yvonne Yang, Sofia Graham, Gabrielle Hon, Noelle Lui, and Natalie Hon.
PRIZE DRAW FOR ALL COMPLETED ENTRIES:
The first 10 names drawn from all completed entries will each receive a FREE copy of The Tale of Run Run Rat by Sarah Brennan and Harry Harrison (RRP HK$99), PLUS a free copy of Once in a Life – Encounters with Nara by Asia Society HK Center (RRP HK$280) PLUS free family entry to an Asia Society event to be advised.
Winners: Noelle Lui, Advait Deshmakh, Charis Chan, Mavis Leung, Megumi Yano, Natalie Hon, Kavi Deshmakh, Alina Hsu, Hana Yano, Maisy Leung.
MYSTERY PRIZE FOR BEST SUPER-CHALLENGE ENTRY:
The BEST entry showing completion of ALL 20 CHALLENGES will receive THE ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION OF THE GREAT YEAR OF THE RAT CHALLENGE 2020 above, signed by the artist Harry Harrison and inscribed with the entrant’s name (RRP HK$5000)!
Winner: Sofia Graham
Congratulations once again for taking part in this fabulous Challenge! You can find photos of some of the best entries received in each category here as well as some of the fantastic SING! Videos on our Facebook page.
A Chinese New Year’s message from Harry!
January 29, 2020 at 10:52 am | Posted in benefits of reading books, Harry Harrison, Year of the Rat | Leave a commentTags: Harry Harrison, Literacy, Metal Rat, The Chinese Calendar Tales, Year of the Rat
Harry Harrison, the fabulous illustrator of the Chinese Calendar Tales, has asked me to wish all our fans a very Happy Year of the Rat! And isn’t his cartoon fantastic?! I just love the grumpy pig (last year’s beastie) being overrun with cunning little rats for 2020!
Now this year is a Metal Rat Year, and apparently that means it will be a great year for just about everybody! Yippee! Here’s what lies ahead:
- new goals!
- new businesses!
- new hobbies!
- strength!
- prosperity!
- and even better, good luck!
A Big Fat “Happy Year of the Pig!” from Harry Harrison!
February 11, 2019 at 3:27 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac | Leave a commentTags: Books about China for kids, Books about Chinese history for kids, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Chinese New Year, Far East Economic Review, Harry Harrison, South China Morning Post, The Guardian, The Year of the Pig
My friend Harry Harrison, who is the FABULOUS illustrator of the Chinese Calendar Tales, has asked me to post this very funny cartoon on my blog to wish all his fans a very Happy Year of the Pig! Harry is the famous cartoonist in the South China Morning Post as well as many other publications in the world, such as The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and the Far East Economic Review. I’m so lucky that he illustrates my stories – and all the fans of the Chinese Calendar Tales are too! What can we say but Thank you Harry!
Oh what a lovely Launch!!
January 31, 2019 at 9:53 am | Posted in Book launches, Bookazine Exchange Square, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Bookshop event, Boxed Set, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese New Year, Fabulous fans!, Hong Kong events, RoomtoRead, Writer Ambassador | Leave a commentTags: A Dirty Story, Bookazine Exchange Square, Harry Harrison, Room To Read Writer Ambassador, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig
Phew is it busy at the moment!!! I’m so busy with lots of lovely school visits and book orders that I’m very late with my blog-posts! So, my lovely followers, you are going to receive quite a number today!
First and foremost, I want to tell you about last Saturday, and the wonderful launch of The Tale of Ping Pong Pig and our beautiful new Boxed Set of Chinese Calendar Tales at Bookazine Exchange Square! We had a fabulous crowd of fans there, old and new, including many old friends who had come to our launches at the very beginning of the series!
First we had speeches from Shonee Mirchandani of Bookazine, who with her sister Arti has hosted ALL my book launches ever since A Dirty Story back in 2004; then from my dear friend Jennie Orchard, who spoke about RoomtoRead, the wonderful children’s literacy charity for whom I am a very proud Writer Ambassador. 20% of the proceeds of sale at the launch is being donated by me and Bookazine to the RoomtoRead library in India that Bookazine is generously funding! You can find out more about RoomtoRead’s fantastic work in India here.
Then I was very pleased to talk about the series and all the wonderful people who have contributed so much to its success. First and foremost, that had to be Harry Harrison, our fabulous illustrator!
Then our designers e5 and printer KK Mok at Zhongtian Colour Printing HK Ltd, who sadly could not be with us.
Then Arti and Shonee of Bookazine of course!
Then my beautiful family – my daughters Bea and Annabel (who surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers so I cried :))
And my darling husband Philippe who has supported me in every way, through thick and thin, during the 13 years of writing and publishing the series. Here he is on the right with me, Jennie Orchard and Harry!
And last but never least, my fantastic fans, including kids, mums and dads, teachers and librarians, all over Hong Kong!
Next came my story reading of The Tale of Ping Pong Pig – our very last Tale in the series, out just in time for The Year of the Pig! The kids in the audience were such fun to read to, and they and their mums and dads enthusiastically joined in whenever poor little Ping Pong ran into trouble from her nemesis, the Minister of Most Important Things! Then Harry’s annual quiz for everyone from 2 to 102, with prizes of tiny pandas for the right answers…
And then a real treat! Harry showed everyone how he draws his characters…and then the kiddies joined in!
And finally, our traditional book signing, when it’s such a pleasure to meet our lovely fans!
My daughter Annabel got her annual finger signing from Harry and me of course!
It was such a happy, exciting and colourful event, and I’d like to give my warmest thanks again to Clemence Robine, who organised the event for Bookazine and who generously allowed me to borrow some of the photos on Bookazine’s FaceBook page. You can see more here!
I’m posting the Competition Results today!
November 18, 2018 at 10:18 am | Posted in Clever Competitions, Poetry competitions for children, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Harry Harrison, Perfect Pet Poem Competition, The Tale of Run Run Rat
I’ve been busy as Run Run Rat going to the market in Harry Harrison’s wonderful illustration above! See The Tale of Run Run Rat
Huge thanks, and apologies, to my loyal writer fans who have been waiting so very patiently for the results of my Perfect Pet Poem Competition! I’ve been HUGELY busy the last two weeks, with my lovely daughter Annabel sitting her final IB exams (which requires a lot of mother love and attention!) and a very busy time at work getting ready for the release of my next Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig, into the shops! So I’ve had not a moment to finalise the results! But today, the house is quiet, I’m putting the final touches to my judging – and you’ll hear from me later today! YAY! Thank you so much for your patience!
Which little pig is coming to market?
November 14, 2018 at 4:27 pm | Posted in Bookazine Festival Walk, Bookazine Princes Building, Buying my books, Christmas Fairs | Leave a commentTags: Bookazine Princes Building, Conrad Christmas Fair, Harry Harrison, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig, The Year of the Pig
There’s a tasty little pig coming to a market near you any day now! Yes, it’s Ping Pong Pig, in her very own special story for next Chinese New Year, about her amazing adventures in the Forbidden City in Beijing! You can see her, with the cunning Minister of Most Important Things, in the picture above – the Tale has been illustrated by the wonderful Harry Harrison yet again and you’re going to just love the whole book! The Tale of Ping Pong Pig will be available online soon here, as well as in Bookazine shops in Hong Kong and at the Conrad Christmas Fair by next week! So make sure you add that tasty little porker to your Christmas list!
The Hong Kong Young Reader’s Festival 2018 has begun – and it’s fantastic!
March 5, 2018 at 9:00 pm | Posted in Favourite kids' books, Hong Kong events, Literary Festivals | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Harry Harrison, Hong Kong festivals, Hong Kong International Literary Festival, Hong Kong Young Readers International Literary Festival 2016, The Tale of Desmond Dog
Hello again! I’m SOOOO excited! The Hong Kong Young Reader’s Festival 2018 has just begun and there’s so much for kids from 4 to 104 to do and see! There’s a fantastic schools program of course and also some great FREE events! (Not to mention a fabulous official poster by Harry Harrison, above!)
THIS WEEKEND there will be an amazing line-up of famous children’s authors, illustrators and performers appearing at eight FREE public events – you can read about them all at the HKYRF website! The events take place at Lee Gardens Two, outside 217-218, 28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay from 1.45pm to 6pm!
And if you want to meet my dashing Desmond Dog, come along and hear me read his story in my session from 1.45 – 2.45pm! Here are the details! I look forward to seeing you all there!
Ahoy there! Just 31 days left to enter your Dashing Dog Story in my Clever Competition!
February 20, 2018 at 2:38 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Ching Shih, Clever Competitions, Harry Harrison, The Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Year of the Dog, Writing Competitions for Kids
Ching Shih would like to remind you all that you have only 31 days left until the deadline of the Dashing Dog Story Competition! She would also like to remind you that failure to enter might just result in your being tied in knots and hoisted overboard!!!!
So heave ho me hearties, and send those stories in! It’s very chilly at the bottom of the South China Sea! All the details you need are here!
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