SWF: Tibby the Tiger Bunny and The Robot in my Playground Book Launch

Pauline Lo, Emily Lim and Christine from Epigram

On Saturday afternoon I found myself at the SMU campus for the joint book launch of  award-winning authors Emily Lim's and Pauline Lo's books Tibby the Tiger Bunny and The Robot in My Playground; both ladies are my fellow authors at Epigram Books.

Also in attendance representing Epigram were Edmund, Sheri, Christine, and Ilangoh. Kenneth, Catherine, Sarah and I were there to show support for team SCBWI. And course I bought the books!

Tibby the Tiger Bunny

The Robot in My Playground

Emily, Catherine, and Jade (Photo: C. Carvell)

It's needless to say that the book launch was packed and Emily brought along her  adorably energetic son Caleb, to whom she dedicated her book.

After the launch we caught up with Evelyn and headed for a post-book launch tea at one of the many establishments on the SMU campus. Now that was a lot of fun!!

Sarah, Kenneth and Sheri 

Pauline, Edmund and Avina

Emily Lim and Caleb.

Printing.............

Sorry I haven't updated for a while, it's been a busy few weeks. Ok, about two weeks ago, my editor Sheri invited me to tour the printing offices and watch At the Night Safari go to print.  So I jumped at the chance to watch the birth of my literary baby.  I'd also finally get to meet illustraror Soefara Jafney who did such an amazing job with the illustrations. To say that I love them would be an understatement.

Sheri and Soefara at the printers.

Anxious to get to the printers on time, I left home extra early, thinking I'd be the first one there. But  Sheri beat me to it, Soefara arrived after negotiating the maze-like industrial park and after our introduction I asked why immediately she hadn't added me responded to my facebook email that I had sent months earlier. The strategy is to ask potentially awkward questions before a person has time to come up with an adequate excuse. Ok, truth be told I  probably sent it to the wrong Soefara. The rest of the Epigram team arrived and our tour began.

Printing, printing, printing.

First off, we went to the printing section, where we saw them print the pages of At the Night Safari-So exciting. It was like being in the delivery room of a hospital, waiting for your child to be born.
Well, except for the paper, the printing equipment, and the chemicals. OK, so it was nothing like being in a delivery room at all, but it was exciting nevertheless.

The prints.

Simon showed us the different contrasts on the sample prints and explained what the colours on the final print would look like.  After that we toured the rest of the printing factory, where we saw the production of product boxes, magazines and the printing plates. It was all very fascinating but of course you know what the highlight of the visit was for me! Now I only had to sit and wait patiently for the books to be delivered to Epigram the following week. And as we, all know I'm not exactly the most patient of people. Thanks, Sheri, Simon and Epigram for arranging the visit and thanks for illustrating the book Soefara!!

Sam, Sebbie & Di-Di-Di

Back in 1998, I started writing a series of children's picture books, which featured my niece and nephews as the main characters: The Sam, Sebbie and Di-Di-Di series, the first of which was Sebbie's First Day of School.   I started writing because I used to babysit them almost every Friday night and at bedtime they would pile me with stacks of their favourite picture books, insisting that I read each one.

At my first book signing at the American Club with the stars of the books

You can well imagine that more often than not, I ended up with a very hoarse throat. So instead of reading from their regular selection, I started making up stories about them. After I had written the first three stories, I approached a local publisher and they signed me up to do another three.  I ended up writing 12 books altogether. 

Both Singaporean and expat parents have told me that their kids love the books, which have been out of print for years. So it often surprises me when I'm told that even a new generation of kids like the books.. One young reader approached my nephew who is the inspiration for Di-Di-Di and said: "Are you Di-Di-Di?" and when my nephew affirmed the fact, the reader was gobsmacked and replied: "Then Sebbie must be a man by now!"

Recently, I signed a contract with Epigram to release revamped versions of  the Sam, Sebbie and Di-Di-Di stories. And while I'm thrilled that the books are being republished, I'm also kind of anxious about it. The stories were written so long ago when I was a newbie; my style has changed considerably since then and I'm wondering if people will like the new editions. 

The first book scheduled to be released is At the Night Safari. The image below is the first incarnation of the book, which was published in 1999. 

And the image below is the working cover for the new book. Again this may not be the final cover. It's very different from the original but I like the fresh new look a lot. I love it!

At the Epigram Sales Conference

The books are scheduled to be released sometime later this year. I guess they could have been out earlier if I had finished the edits on time!

Thanks to my incredible editor Sheri Tan for her patience, support and encouragement,  my publisher Edmund Wee of Epigram for republishing them and the readers who actually read the books when they first came out all those years ago.