Monday, May 28, 2012

Asian Festival of Children's Content Day # 2


Leonard Marcus
The second day of the AFCC got started with the Asian Parents Forum with a welcome address by Claire Chiang and a keynote address by Leonard Marcus  'Read Me a Story, Sing Me to Sleep' which brought back memories of my days babysitting my-now teenage- niece and nephews. It was a fascinating talk that was interrupted by the person next to me who kept talking to herself while she perused her programme, so  I had to 'shush' her which worked rather effectively but not before she shot me the filthiest of glances.  


It is interesting to note that even Eric Carle's book The Hungry Caterpillar was rejected by librarians for being too much like a toy rather than a book,  and that Margaret Wise Brown's book Goodnight Moon still reaches across generations today, though it, too, was not widely accepted at first. So I guess the lesson of the story is that librarians and teachers have and will continue to reject good books which will eventually be appreciated in time. So if you've faced rejection and continue to do so, then you must be a genius!! But then if that's the case I must be Einstein!! haha...kidding.


Claire Chiang



After Leonard's great introduction, Claire Chiang conducted an engaging, interactive session Telling Stories, Building Bonds which focused on  writing memoirs for yourself and your family.  She had us all riveted. Her dedication to her work, her philantrophy and her love for family is, for lack of a better word,  inspiring. So if you have a chance to hear her in person, please do so!!
Mr Rama and Victoria Siaw's mother, Victoria Siaw's seated in the corner.


As for the rest of the day, I walked around in a kind of daze as I didn't get much sleep the night before,  but I did manage to go for the book launch of Victoria Siaw, a teen author from Malaysia who started writing and publishing her stories when she was just nine years old! 


The day ended with local actor Edmund Chen's book launch. I can never understand why people in the entertainment industry insist on writing children's books. Do those of us in the children's book industry embark on acting, singing or dancing careers? No, but perhaps we should!
Edmund Chen and fan


Anway, as I left for the day, Festival Manager Kenneth was running around making everything was in order for the next day, Festival Direcor Mr Rama was overseeing things and the AFCC Angels  Celine,Mra,Vasantha, Faith and Filzah were prepping for an influx of new festival attendees. 
Festival Angels: Mra, Vasantha, Faith and Filzah (Celine not pictured)


Glad that my long day was over, I headed home and put the finishing touches on my powerpoint presentation for my panel discussion with Shamini Flint and Emily Lim. How on earth was I going to measure up to these two accomplished authors... the answer was that I didn't know.





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