My insssspiration for The Tale of Sybil Snake!
February 4, 2025 at 5:55 pm | Posted in Books about Chinese Zodiac, Chinese festivals, FAQs, Year of the Snake | Leave a commentTags: Chinese New Year, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, Stories about snakes, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Sybil Snake
Readers often ask me what inspiration I had for writing my Chinese Calendar Tales, which is always a great question! The Tale of Sybil Snake, this year’s book, was inspired by quite a few things, and this week I thought I might share them with you!
First of all, there are the characteristics of Chinese Zodiac Snakes! They are graceful, romantic, refined and very charming! They are also very materialistic and love to surround themselves with beautiful things! On the negative side, they can also be mysterious and manipulative, plotting and planning over long periods of time to get what they want, and they will always get their revenge if anyone stands in their way!
In The Tale of Sybil Snake, Sybil is so graceful and charming that she hypnotises everyone in her path…and they all fall in love with her! She loves “collecting” beautiful things (some people might call it stealing!) and surrounds herself with her priceless hoard of treasure in a secret cave! She is highly manipulative and gets whatever she wants when nobody suspects her in the least…even after the Emperor banishes her after she steals the little prince’s golden ball (see the picture)! And in the end, she gets her revenge (but you’ll have to read the story to find out how!)
Keep visiting my blog to find out more inspiration for The Tale of Sybil Snake!
Patience, my writer friends…
April 27, 2022 at 10:01 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions | Leave a commentTags: A Terrific Tiger Tale writing competition, Chinese Calendar Tales, Stories about Chinese history for kids, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, The Tale of Temujin, Writing competitions for primary school kids
If you’re one of the dedicated writers who entered my Terrific Tiger Tale writing competition, you’ll be wanting to know who won places! But I’m still reading and hugely enjoying your stories, so you’ll have to bear with me a little while longer! Hang in there, and if you get frustrated, just let out a little ROAR – it always helps :)!
Four fabulous sessions at Kennedy School!
March 17, 2022 at 12:04 am | Posted in Hong Kong Schools | Leave a commentTags: Kennedy School, Stories about Chinese history for kids, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda, The Tale of Temujin
Today and yesterday morning I Zoomed in to visit my old friends at Kennedy School in Hong Kong! We had four fabulous sessions with Years 1 to 4! The Year 1s enjoyed my show and tell story reading of The Tale of Pin Yin Panda, and were brilliant with their knowledge of the Chinese Zodiac Animals and the Legend of Lord Buddha’s Race! The Year 2s met my hungry Chester Choi and his friend Jimmy Lee, and the Year 3s and 4s roared like tigers and screamed like VERY spoiled princesses as they listened to me read The Tale of Temujin! We had a blast!! Huge thanks to Library Assistant Susan Mifsud for hosting me, and the PTA for inviting me in! It was lovely to see you all again! Here are some more photos below!
A fun virtual visit to Sunnybank State School in Brisbane!
September 3, 2021 at 6:37 pm | Posted in Brisbane schools, Virtual visits | Leave a commentTags: Chinese history for kids, Great children's books about Chinese culture, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, Sunnybank State School, The Chinese Calendar Tales, Virtual author visits
Say hello to the fabulous school captains of Sunnybank State School in Brisbane, Queensland! I had the great pleasure of visiting the Grade 6s virtually last Friday for a fun author session, where we talked all about the Chinese Calendar Tales. We had some great Q&A about why I wrote them, how I got my inspiration for each story, and how I plan my stories generally, with a little bit of fascinating Chinese history thrown in! Huge thanks to Principal John Greenup for hosting my visit. I hope you all enjoy reading my books and that they inspire you to write your own stories! And make sure you enter my next Clever Competition, coming soon!
A big MOOO from Oswald Ox for Kowloon Junior School!
March 8, 2021 at 9:51 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Oswald Ox
A big THANK YOU to teacher librarian Macy Lau, for hosting me and dear old Oswald Ox last Wednesday at Kowloon Junior School! We visited the fabulous Year 1 to Year 3s by Zoom, with a fun story reading of The Tale of Oswald Ox and some great Q&A afterwards from the kids – and I learned how to DAB!!! Here are the teachers above, teaching me how! Thank you kids for being such a GREAT audience!
Hello San Pablo Elementary School in Florida!
February 12, 2021 at 11:53 pm | Posted in United States schools | Leave a commentTags: Chinese New Year, San Pablo Elementary School, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, The Tale of Oswald Ox, The Year of the Ox, Zoom visits
A big HELLO to Mrs Relaford’s 3rd Grade Math class at San Pablo Elementary School, Jacksonville Beach, Florida! It was such fun to meet you all by Zoom this afternoon, to have the chance to read The Tale of Oswald Ox to you all, and to answer your fantastic questions about my books, my writing and celebrating Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai – or Kung Hei Fat Choi – to you all for a fabulous Year of the Ox! And thank you Mrs Relaford for being such a wonderful host!
A funny and fabulous day at Rose Bay Public School!
August 20, 2019 at 4:27 pm | Posted in Australian schools, Poetry Workshops for kids, Rose Bay Public School, Story Readings, Sydney schools, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Jane Tanner, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, Stories about whales, Storm Whale, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig
Today I visited wonderful Rose Bay Public School, where I worked with all the classes from Kindy to Year 6!
The Kindies and Years 1 and 2 heard me read my story Storm Whale, and saw all of Jane Tanner’s beautiful illustrations up on the screen. We shared some fascinating facts about sperm whales, and how we can help them to survive. Then I introduced them to my Chinese Calendar Tales and the characters of the Chinese Zodiac! They were very surprised to learn that Captain Cook was born in the Year of the Rat, and Winnie the Pooh was born in the Year of the Tiger!
Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 heard me read my latest Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig – and had a lot of fun filling in the missing words! Congratulations to the Bandicoot Team in Years 5 and 6 which narrowly defeated the Echidna Team in filling in the blanks! I hope that this afternoon has inspired you all to have a go at writing your own rhyming verse…I have a feeling that you will be rather good at it!
And, of course, I hope that you’re all going to enter my next Clever Competition for kids which will be announced on this blog on the 1st of September!
Huge thanks to lovely librarian Sarah Skelton (above right) and her fabulous assistant Gill Davidson for hosting me today! I wonder if you can guess what year of the Chinese Zodiac we were each born in?
Ping Pong Pig bounces into Hutchins School in Hobart!
March 16, 2019 at 9:41 am | Posted in Hobart, Hobart Schools, Tasmania, The Hutchins School | Leave a commentTags: Beijing, Stories about Chinese history for kids, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Forbidden City, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig
Wow! Look at that sky! It was what my Dad used to call a “blue and gold day” on Friday 8th March when Ping Pong Pig and I visited Hutchins Junior School at Sandy Bay in Hobart, Tasmania to visit our many friends there with my latest Chinese Calendar Tale in one packed session! Just about every kid and teacher in school was there, from the Pre-Kindies to the Grade 6s, and they all fell in love with my feisty little pig as she evaded the Minister of Most Important Things in her romp around the Forbidden City in Beijing! Huge thanks to my dear friend, Head of Library Kate Reid, for inviting me in! And I’m looking forward to some great Hutchins entries in my Clever Competition!
A fabulous Thursday at ICHK in Hong Lok Yuen!
January 18, 2019 at 3:26 pm | Posted in Chinese New Year, Hong Kong Schools, ICHK HLY, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Admiral Zheng He, Beijing, Forbidden City, Hongwu Emperor, Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig, Yongle Emperor, Zheng He, Zhu Di
Yesterday I introduced Ping Pong Pig to the gorgeous kids of International College Hong Kong in Hong Lok Yuen! They learned all about the founding of the Ming Dynasty by the extraordinary Hongwu Emperor; his wily fourth son, Zhu Di, who became the third Ming emperor when he stole the throne from his nephew; and the remarkable achievements of his reign including the building of the Forbidden City in Beijing and the treasure ships of Admiral Zheng He, whose seven voyages over the Indian ocean included three to Africa! Here I am above with six keen Grade 6 students, including library leaders, and below with lovely teacher librarian Charlie Beard who hosted me for the day, as well as all my zodiac toys! Thank you ICHK for making me feel so welcome again!
A fun morning at FSSA in Yau Tong!
April 18, 2018 at 2:14 pm | Posted in Fukien Secondary School Affiliated, Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Stories about Chinese Zodiac characters, Stories about dogs, Stories about pandas, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Desmond Dog, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda
Many thanks to Head of English and Deputy Principal Nicolas Delbos (with me above right) and Sunny Ding (above left) for hosting me yesterday at Fukien Secondary School Affiliated Primary School for a morning of fun story readings with all the kids from Primary One to Primary Six! The P1 to P3 kids met my vain but loveable Pin Yin Panda as we explored the Legend of Lord Buddha’s Race and how all the animals got into the Chinese Zodiac in The Tale of Pin Yin Panda, while the P4 to P6s pretended to be fabulously fearsome pirates as I read them this year’s Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Desmond Dog! We had a lot of fun!
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