Congratulations to the winners of the Story of a Sassy Snake writing competition!
April 28, 2025 at 7:41 pm | Posted in Books about Chinese Zodiac, Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Hong Kong International School, Stamford American School Hong Kong, The Year of the Snake, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Clever Competitions, Snake stories, The Tale of Sybil Snake, Writing Competitions for Kids, Year of the Snake
Congratulations to the winners in my Sassy Snake Story Competition! Charles Bruser Zarin, from Hong Kong International School, placed first in the Grade 4 to 6 Category, while Sera Leya Abraham from Stamford American School Hong Kong placed first in the Grade 1 to 3 Category. They each win a signed copy this year’s Chinese Calendar Tale, The Tale of Sybil Snake, as well as TWO further books available on my sales website here. You can read their fabulous stories on my Clever Competitions Page right away!
Just 6 weeks to go in my Story of a Sassy Snake Writing Competition!
February 25, 2025 at 6:37 pm | Posted in Challenges and activities, Clever Competitions, The Tale of Sybil Snake, The Year of the Snake, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, The Tale of Sybil Snake, The Year of the Snake, Writing Challenges for Kids
Hello all you brilliant primary school-aged writers out there! This is a quick reminder that there are less than six weeks to go to enter your story into my latest Clever Competition! It’s a really fun one, with ingredients including an evil Emperor, a sad spider and a mighty flood! Not to mention a splendidly sassy snake…just like my Sybil Snake! So click on the competition link and get those creative juices flowing! I can’t wait to read your story!
The fascinating Chinese history behind The Tale of Sybil Snake!
February 17, 2025 at 9:09 pm | Posted in Inspiration for my stories, The Tale of Sybil Snake, The Year of the Snake | Leave a commentTags: astrology, China, Chinese Zodiac, history, news, Stories about Chinese history for kids, Stories about Chinese Zodiac, Stories about snakes, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Sybil Snake, The Year of the Snake
In a recent post, I told you all about the famous Legend of Lady White Snake, in which a beautiful white snake transformed herself into a human being in order to marry the man she loved. When I first read about this legend, I spied a footnote at the bottom of the page which said that, in the past, many Chinese scholars believed that a famous Chinese Emperor called Wu Zetian was the reincarnation of Lady White Snake! So of course, I had to do some more research – and what I found out was fascinating! It also inspired some of the story in The Tale of Sybil Snake!
Wu Zetian was born into a minor noble family in 624AD, and was so renowned for her charm, beauty and intelligence that she became one of the concubines of the old Emperor, and after he died, the young Emperor Gao Zong. She gradually worked her way to the top, replacing even the young Emperor’s first wife. Then, when the Emperor suffered a stroke, she took over the administration of the court, removing anyone who opposed her. After the Emperor died, she refused to allow her two eldest sons to rule, moving her weakest third son into power so that she could control him. Finally, she forced him to resign, and declared herself Emperor of China – and if you called her Empress or anything other than Emperor, you were in big trouble!
In spite of her ruthless climb to power, she was an excellent ruler of China for forty years, replacing the military ruling class with scholars, elevating women in politics and society, lowering taxes on the peasants and improving public works. She also, famously, replaced the official state religion of Daoism with Buddhism (which regarded men and women as equal). But after she died, the Confucian scholars who had been sidelined by Wu Zetian returned to the court with a vengeance, and tarnished her record with tales of terrible cruelty…including, apparently, that she was the reincarnation of a Snake! Interestingly, the first story about Lady White Snake emerged in the Tang Dynasty, where the snake was described as an “evil demon”.
Whatever the truth of the matter, a woman who could rise to the very top of imperial China, at a time when women were universally regarded as inferior to men, must have been extraordinary!
And in The Tale of Sybil Snake, you will discover a mysterious woman who rules China long and well after her husband, the Emperor, and their little son disappears…I wonder whether she had anything to do with Sybil Snake? Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The famous legend that inspired The Tale of Sybil Snake!
February 8, 2025 at 12:41 am | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese legends | Leave a commentTags: mythology, snakes, Stories about Chinese Zodiac animals, Stories about snakes, The Legend of Lady White Snake, The Tale of Sybil Snake, The Year of the Snake
Some years before writing The Tale of Sybil Snake, I came across a famous Chinese folktale called The Legend of Lady White Snake, renowned as one of the four great folk tales of China. There are many versions of this tale, dating as far back as the Tang Dynasty.
My favourite tells of a beautiful, immortal, snow-white snake who frequented the shores of the West Lake in Hangzhou, a gorgeously scenic place where the Emperors used to take their holidays. One day the snake met a handsome young Chinese scholar, falling deeply in love with him. But he did not return her love, until she transformed herself into a beautiful woman. Then they married and happily settled down to run a Chinese medicine shop together. One day, a vengeful Buddhist monk, who was also immortal, and had been beaten in battle by the snake many years earlier, told the young man that his wife was really a snake. The poor husband refused to believe this, until the monk persuaded him to give his wife a magic potion at the time of the Dragon Boat Festival. After drinking the potion, the wife turned back into a snake, and the husband, in shock, fell into a deadly coma. The snake rushed to the mountains to find secret herbs to cure her husband, but the monk chased her there, and fought her, overcoming her this time because she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. She was locked up in a pagoda by the West Lake, but finally freed by her son, who, having escaped the pagoda when he grew up, came to his mother’s rescue. Lady White Snake and her husband (who fortunately seems to have recovered) lived happily ever after by the West Lake.
I wonder if you can pick the similarities between this wonderful folk tale and The Tale of Sybil Snake?
Even better, can you think of a famous Hans Christian Andersen story which also sounds quite a bit like The Legend of Lady White Snake?
If you can, why not let me know by posting a comment (see link above) – but remember to ask a parent for permission first!
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!
Ssssssss! Welcome to the Year of the Snake!
January 29, 2025 at 9:34 pm | Posted in Children's Chinese Zodiac Books, Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year Activites, Special Offers, Writing competitions for kids, Year of the Snake | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Snake Mask, Snake story video, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Sybil Snake, Wicked Words
Kung Hei Fat Choi from Sybil Snake, the sixth and sassiest of all the Chinese Calendar Tales characters! It’s time to start off a fabulous new Year of the Snake with lots of fun and some great offers!
(1) A sssensssational new writing competition on the Clever Competitions page!
This fun writing competition is open to kids of primary school age all around the world! Take a look at the Clever Competitions page for all the details. The deadline is Friday 4th April, so start planning your story NOW!
(2) Some ssseriousssly sssuper new words to impresss all your friendsss!
Click here on the Wicked Words page to learn three fabulous new words inspired by Sybil Snake – then stun your family, teachers and friends with your newfound vocabulary!
(3) A sssensational Snake Mask to make and wear!
Chinese New Year is a great time for making animal masks! Click here for a fun free download from Education.Com for a sssuper Snake Mask to wear at your Chinese New Year party!
(4) A sneak peek at your favourite sssnake ssstory!
If you want to find out a bit more about this year’s Chinese Calendar Tale, and why I wrote the books, take a look at this youtube video!
(5) Ssstay up to date by sssubssscribing to my blog!
If you want to keep up with more news and fun about the Year of the Snake ahead, just ssscroll down this page on the right and enter your email address (of course, you should check with mum or dad first)!
(6) Two sssuper sssasssy dissscountsss on our sales website!
Go to the Chinese Calendar Tales website right away for two ssseriously sssasssy discount offers on the Complete Set of Chinese Calendar Tales and this year’s special story, The Tale of Sybil Snake!
Enjoy!
Hello to the Sisterhood of Readers at Salwan Public School, Delhi!
June 9, 2020 at 3:58 pm | Posted in benefits of reading books, children's literacy, girls' education, Indian schools, Salwan Public School, Delhi, Sisterhood of Readers, workshops, Zoom visits | Leave a commentTags: Girls' literacy, Hong Kong International School, Salwan Public School, Delhi, Sisterhood of Readers, The Tale of Run Run Rat, The Tale of Sybil Snake, The Tale of Temujin
Thank you to principal Rasshmi Malik of Salwan Public School, Delhi, for inviting me to visit her wonderful school this morning, in association with the Sisterhood of Readers, the brainchild of Ahaana Subberwal of Hong Kong International School here in Hong Kong! After telling the students all about how I became an author and the vital importance of reading lots and lots of books to a happy, healthy and wealthy life, I read my story The Tale of Run Run Rat. And then we had a terrific Q and A session, with some really interesting questions from the kids! I look forward to many future visits to this inspiring school!
Below see Ahaana Subberwal and some members of the Sisterhood of Readers with my book The Tale of Sybil Snake – a tale of female empowerment if ever there was one!
And here are some of the younger members, with The Tale of Temujin!
2 Clever Competition finalists from Taiwan!
December 2, 2019 at 12:18 pm | Posted in Hsinchu International School, Taiwan Schools | Leave a commentTags: My Favourite Season Haiku Competition, Sarah Brennan's Clever Competitions, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Sybil Snake
Say hello to two clever young writers from Grade 2M of Hsinchu International School in Taiwan! Isabel Huang (holding her prize, a signed copy of The Tale of Sybil Snake) won 2nd Place in the Grade 1 to 3 Category of my latest competition, the My Favourite Season Haiku Competition, and Alyssa Lin (holding a signed copy of The Tale of Chester Choi), won 3rd place! Standing with them is their lovely teacher, Cairan Meister, Congratulations girls! You can see their winning entries on my Clever Competitions page here!
Prize-giving at Arden Anglican School, Beecroft
August 19, 2019 at 4:35 pm | Posted in Arden Anglican School, Beecroft, Australian schools, Awards, Sydney schools | Leave a commentTags: Boxed Set of Chinese Calendar Tales, Dark Horse Activity Book, Sarah Brennan's Clever Competitions, The Practically Perfect Pig Tale Competition, The Tale of Sybil Snake
This morning I also visited Arden Anglican School in Beecroft where I met all the Grade 1s to Grade 3s in chapel, and presented a Boxed Set of the Chinese Calendar Tales to First Prize winner Saskia in the Practically Perfect Pig Tale Story Competition, Grade 1 to 3 Category! Isn’t she a clever girl! I also presented The Tale of Sybil Snake to Second Place winner Alisha (who sadly was home sick today, so her best friend received it on her behalf) and The Dark Horse Activity Book to young Muyao Zhang, who placed fourth! I look forward to receiving lots more entries from Arden Anglican School in my future competitions! You can see me below, with my pig Ping Pong and Saskia (left), and Muyao (right).
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