A wonderful morning at Diocesan Girls Junior School
December 14, 2017 at 7:21 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Diocesan Girls Junior School, Growhouse, How to Become a Great Writer, Storm Whale
Many thanks to my hosts, teacher Rachel Yu (above) and PTA parent Hynn Ming Lau, for inviting me to talk to the lovely young ladies of Grade One to Three at Diocesan Girls Junior School in Hong Kong yesterday. First I read the girls my beautiful new story Storm Whale, which was followed by dozens of eager questions about whales, some of which I had to admit were so tricky that I could not answer them! Then I gave the girls my Top 12 Tips to Become Great Writers in the Digital Age – and I was so impressed by their focus and understanding of this very topical and important subject! I’m quite sure that they will be strictly limiting their time on digital screens and greatly increasing their time spent reading books from now on! I look forward to receiving lots of DGJS story entries in my next Clever Competition! Thank you to my old friend Matt Steele of Growhouse for organising the event and co-ordinating the fabulous book sales!
3 Fabulous Christmas Fairs in 3 Fun-filled days!
December 14, 2017 at 6:31 pm | Posted in AISHK, Being an Author, Books about Chinese Zodiac, Christmas Fairs | Leave a commentTags: AISHK, Prestige Christmas Fairs, Singapore International School, Storm Whale, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Dirty Stories, The Tale of Desmond Dog
Phew! From last Saturday to this Monday, I had a ball meeting my fans and their mums and dads at a trio of fantastic Christmas Fairs! And I hope they’re having a ball reading their latest Chinese Calendar Tales, Dirty Stories, and my beautiful new Storm Whale!
We were even able to sell my fabulous new book for 2018, The Tale of Desmond Dog!
- On Saturday, my oldest daughter Bea and my lovely husband Philippe helped me to sell my books at the always-busy Singapore International School fair – we had enormous fun meeting all the SIS parents and kids, and rubbed shoulders with other friendly stall-holders we met there last year! Here I am above with one of my Summer Writing Course 2016 students Ian Chow and his lovely mum Priscilla Ko.
- On Sunday, I had another busy table at Prestige Fairs at the Conrad Hotel in Admiralty, Hong Kong – I was signing books all day and it was great to meet so many fans from so many different places! My books will now be winging their way to nieces, nephews, godchildren, family friends and even a few grandparents and in-laws in countries right around the world! Huge thanks to my lovely daughter Annabel for all her help!
- And finally, on Monday evening, I had one last table at the Australian International School Jingle and Mingle Fair where I caught up with fellow AISHK mums and dads while signing my books!
And that’s the end of my Christmas Fairs for 2017!!
Meet me and buy my books at the Conrad Fair tomorrow and next weekend!
December 1, 2017 at 1:24 pm | Posted in Book Fairs, Books about Chinese Zodiac | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Conrad Christmas Fair, Storm Whale, The Dirty Stories
Come and say hello, take a picture with me, and buy my funny and fabulous Chinese Calendar Tales, Dirty Stories and my new book Storm Whale at the 2017 Prestige Fair at the Conrad Hotel Ballroom, Pacific Place, TOMORROW 2 December, and NEXT SUNDAY, 10 December! I’ll sign all books purchased for whichever lucky newborn, son, daughter, niece, nephew, godchild, family friend…even husband and wife…is destined to receive them! I’ve even got copies of next year’s book for the Year of the Dog – YAY!
Wow! Storm Whale is nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 in the UK!
November 7, 2017 at 9:01 am | Posted in Book Awards, Buying my books, Storm Whale | Leave a commentTags: books about environment and sustainability, Books about whales, Jane Tanner, Kate Greenaway Medal 2018, Old Barn Books, Storm Whale
I’m so thrilled! Storm Whale has been nominated for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 in the UK! Our beautiful book was released by Old Barn Books in the UK in August and since then has received many wonderful reviews there. Last night I was advised that Jane Tanner’s exquisite illustrations have been nominated for this major award! Here’s just a taste above! Now we have to wait till February 2018 to find out if the book will be long-listed, March for the Shortlist and June for the finalists! I’ll keep you informed! And if you want to buy your own copy, you can order it from your local bookshop now, or here (UK) and here (Australia).
A Riveting Story Time at PLK CKY!
November 3, 2017 at 9:23 am | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, PLK CKY School, workshops | Leave a commentTags: How to Write a Riveting Story, Storm Whale, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
A big hello to two of my favourite Hong Kong librarians Tammy Ng and Joli Moore, at Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School in Piper’s Hill, Kowloon, pictured with me above. Joli (to my left) was my wonderful host yesterday for 3 fabulous workshop sessions with the gorgeous Grade 3s, who enthusiastically joined my How to Write a Riveting Story workshop! We had lots of fun thinking working with our five senses to describe different settings and imagining great characters, and the kids all enjoyed my famous adventure story (about the missing dog and the alien abductors) and mystery story (about the missing teachers at PLK CKY :)) as we talked about correct story structure! And I showed them all my latest Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, and my beautiful new book Storm Whale I can’t wait to meet the Grade 4s with my Poetry Workshop in 3 weeks’ time! More photos to come!
Thank you Kowloon Junior School!
October 30, 2017 at 6:28 pm | Posted in Hong Kong Schools, Kowloon Junior School, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Chinese history, Chinese Zodiac, Storm Whale, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Today I had the great pleasure of visiting my old friends at Kowloon Junior School! My lovely host was librarian Carrie Davison, above, who organised a fun-filled day of story readings! I saw four big year groups: the Grade Ones met my hungry dragon in The Tale of Chester Choi; the Grade Twos heard all about the Legend of Lord Buddha’s Race – and why pandas aren’t in the Chinese Zodiac, in The Tale of Pin Yin Panda; the Grade Threes heard my lyrical story Storm Whale and fell in love with Jane Tanner’s gorgeous illustrations of the grand old whale, and the Grade Fours got a fabulous history lesson all about the end of imperialism in China … as well as a fun story reading of The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster and a talk about the symbolism in the Chinese Zodiac! Phew! It was a busy day, but a fun one! More photos to come soon!
A Whale of a Time at Glenealy School!
October 26, 2017 at 9:11 pm | Posted in Glenealy School, Hong Kong Schools, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Storm Whale, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
Today I had a fabulous time at Glenealy School in Hong Kong, introducing the Grade 5s and 6s to my noisy Rickshaw Rooster (and some REALLY juicy Chinese history), and the Grade 1s to Grade 4s to my beautiful Storm Whale! The kids were so full of interesting comments and questions, and I think we can conclude that just about everybody loves whales…and roosters! Huge thanks to my wonderful host, the lovely Gisele Stones (holding Storm Whale, above) and to her fantastic library assistants Stephanie Mathyssek and Elaine Pullinger to our left and right! Afterwards I had the great pleasure of meeting Gavin Coates, the author of the fabulous Earthy series! Here we are above, to the right! More photos below!
The Results are Out in my Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition!
October 12, 2017 at 9:28 am | Posted in Poetry competitions for children, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competition, Storm Whale, Wonderul Whale Haiku Competition
Wow! What fun I’ve had judging all the entries in my Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition! There were 104 entries from 16 different schools in 6 different countries around the world! And they were, indeed, all truly wonderful! But winners there must be, and I’ve just posted the 23 best haikus on my Clever Competitions page here !
Special congratulations to Sophie Zhai of Victoria Shanghai Academy in Hong Kong for winning First Place in the Grade One to Three Category, and to Madeline Painter of Dryden Elementary School, Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA for winning First Place in the Grade Four to Six Category! They each win a FREE signed copy of my beautiful new book Storm Whale, published by Allen and Unwin and illustrated by Jane Tanner! I’ll be writing to all of your schools very soon to let them know how you all got on. A huge thank you for all your hard work, and I look forward to seeing your writing again in my next Clever Competition!
Just 11 days left in my Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition!
September 19, 2017 at 12:51 pm | Posted in Clever Competitions, Storm Whale | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Storm Whale, Wonderful Whale Haiku Competition
Detail from Storm Whale by Sarah Brennan and Jane Tanner, Allen and Unwin, 2017
A big HELLOOO to the wonderful writers who’ve submitted their entries into my Wonderful Whale Haiku competition! We’ve had entries so far from students in 9 different schools in Adelaide, Brisbane, Chicago, Hong Kong, Kolkata, Shanghai and Singapore! But there’s still 11 days to go! If you love whales, and haikus, and haven’t entered my competition yet, make sure you go straight to my Clever Competitions page above for all the details! I can’t wait to read your entry!
Why I wrote Storm Whale and other questions…
September 12, 2017 at 4:53 pm | Posted in Being an Author, Press interviews | Leave a commentTags: Jane Tanner, Old Barn Books, Storm Whale, The Letterpress Project
Thank you to The Letterpress Project in the UK for publishing two terrific interviews with Jane Tanner and I about our beautiful new book Storm Whale, the UK edition of which was published by Old Barn Books in August! You can read them here and here !
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