Benji, Yumi, Origami!

Everyone thinks it's easy to write a children's picture book. I mean it's only between 600 to 1000 words, so how hard can it be? Wrong.  With picture books, pacing, plot and word choice is paramount. You've got to engage your audience. With any bilingual book, the author has to be very careful with their word choice; in fact, an author has to be careful with word choice with any book that he/she writes. It is very difficult!

The National Book Council Development Council of Singapore has been trying to promote the children's literary scene here for some time. To that end, they decided to publish bilingual books in conjunction with the annual Asian Festival of Children's Content. As I am an author, I will be focusing on the books that were written by the Singaporean authors or Singapore based authors for this blog. 

Japan was the AFCC's country of Focus in 2016, so a Singaporean author was paired up with a Japanese illustrator.   Multiple award-winning best-selling author Emily Lim was chosen to write the first AFCC bilingual book. Emily's published around 30 books and sold her book rights overseas to Korea and Europe, so she was an ideal choice to wrote this inaugural bilingual book - Benji, Yumi, Origami! From the title alone, the reader can already tell that the book features  Japanese origami.

The story starts with Benji receiving a package from his new neighbor, Yumi - An origami set.  Benji quickly sets out trying to make paper animals that, unfortunately, do not turn out as he had hoped.  Lim has fun with her play on words. "The poor insects really bugged Benji. He sent them flying across the table."

When Benji finally meets Yumi, he expresses his frustration at not being able to make very good origami animals. So while both their mothers busy themselves preparing a tea of Japanese cheesecake and Singaporean pineapple tarts.  Yumi puts a positive spin on Benji's less than perfect Origami animals.

The author deftly weaves cross-cultural elements into this charming and heart-warming universal story of encouragement, fun, and friendship. The illustrations are delightful and the English and Japanese text placement make for easy reading.

Benji, Yumi, Origami! is available at all major bookstores.v

The Asian Festival of Children's Content 2015

It's almost time for the biggest children's literary event in the region - The Asian Festival of Children's Content - or AFCC as it is popularly known. 

If you're an aspiring author or illustrator, it's the place to be. This year the conference will be a week-long affair that includes a Teachers Congress, Parents Forum, and the Writers & Illustrators Conference as well as masterclasses, seminars, workshops and a media summit. 

Wendy Orr

With Sally Gardner

Susanne Gerry

Candy Gourlay, Wendy Orr, Sally Gardner, Susanne Gervay, Naomi Kojima, Marjorie Coughlan, Corinne Robson, Leonard Marcus, James Mayhew, Christopher Cheng, Ken Spillman, Andrew Weale, Norm Jorgensen, James Foley, Suzy Lee, Yusof Gajah, Emily Lim, Shamini Flint, Dianne Wolfer, Eliza Teoh, Mio Debnam,Adeline Foo, Sarah Odedina, Otto Fong, David Liew are just some of the illustrious speakers who have graced the event. 

Now if you're hankering to get your work discovered, I've got some great news for you. All aspiring authors and illustrators will  have a chance to pitch their story ideas at speed pitching sessions and they can also have their illustrations or stories critiqued at the First Look and First Pages critique panels. But space is extremely limited at each of these sessions so register quickly if you don't want to miss out on your potential big break. 

Leonard Marcus and James Mathew

Ken Spillman

Attendees will get a glimpse of the glitterati of the literati at the first awards of the literary award season. Just like Hollywood has the Golden Globes, The Screen Actors Guild Award and The Oscars,  AFCC has the SPBA, The HACBA and The SKTAA.

After weeks of anticipation, the authors and illustrators nominated for the Scholastic Picture Book Award,  Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award, and Samsung KidsTime Author Award will finally find out who will walk away with the coveted prizes! 

Good luck to all the nominees. OK, I know everyone says that it's an honour to be nominated and it doesn't matter if they win or lose; the nomination is the award enough. Blah, blah, blah.  I say that's absolute rubbish! Rubbish, I say. Everyone wants to win! They really, really, do. Having been a previous Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award nominee and speaking from experience *wink wink, nudge nudge*  I have to say I think it's a lot nicer to  accept the award and collect the winner's  cheque than to plaster a smile on your face and applaud graciously when someone else is announced as the winner.   (I'm an author, not an actor for crying out loud. LOL!;)) But I have to concede that if winning is not an option saying you were a nominee is the next best thing.

The Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award

Though some say The Asian Festival of Children's Content is similar to the Bologna Children's Book Fair of the East,  but going back to my earlier Hollywood references, it is really more like the Oscars, the Oscars of the Asian children's literature scene. OK, so there won't be any paparazzi, red carpet appearances or even a red carpet for that matter. You won't have style reporters quizzing you about your AFCC fashions ( seriously what do children's writers and illustrators really know about fashion anyway?) and Wolgang Puck will not have a legion of his chefs whipping up a five-star Michelin banquet at the AFCC closing dinner. But that doesn't mean you should skip the festival! You'd be CRAZY if you did. It's a MUST ATTEND event! How are you going to get discovered if you're not willing to be seen, people?

Anyway this year's country of focus is China and I think that's fantastic as it's probably the biggest market for children's books around and it's still growing. Now, if you're like me  --a Chinese person who can't speak a word of language --  don't worry, the sessions will have live translation.

Oh, and this year, I'll be speaking on conducting school visits with my fellow author, Sarah Mousey, aka my biggest competition :). 
As you can see from the pic below, I've decided to shrink her down and made her bio really, really, really small. Hey, it's my blog and I can do what I want to!

You should come to our session so you can hear Sarah speaking in Chinese. (Through a translator  if we have one. If we don't, then some might not understand what Sarah's saying at all. LOL.
Sarah, you'll have to start your own blog to get back at me! :) :) So come on, people, what are you waiting for?  Register now! 

CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER

ALL IN YOUNG WRITERS MEDIA FESTIVAL

Sarah, Ken and me at the All In Young Writers Media Festival

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been down with a horrendous bout of the flu and it's turned into a horrible wretching-kind of cough, but I'm sure you don't need to know the details.

Last Saturday I managed to drag myself out of my bed to attend the All In Young Writers Media Festival. Carlo invited me to be part of a  panel discussing the lives of a full-time authors along with the amazingly talented Otto Fong and Zed Yeo. How my pathetic part of the presentation would compare to theirs made me feel even worse!

Any how, I showed up early to support friend and fellow-author Sarah Mounsey who was discussing self-publishing. Of course, she
did a  great job of her presentation which made me doubt myself even more.

Denise of Closetful of Books was there after arriving back from India  with loads of books in her baggage--none of which were for me--and a big case of the flu. So the both of us were hacking up a storm at the Library at Orchard Gateway! So if you were there and you caught the flu bug you know who to blame --Denise!

Kelvin and Denise: Don't let her smile fool you. She's spreading her germs
everywhere!

After lunch I headed home to work a bit more on my presentation. Linn Shekinah who was facilitating the panel discussion had already prepared a brilliant powerpoint slide show for me based on the pictures that I mailed her but I felt that I could add more too it. In any event I didn't do much at home except take my medication before heading back for the panel discussion.

Otto

Otto was up first and boy his presentation was fantastic. He also showed us his old school report card. I've never seen so many As in my life--or I should say my report cards never looked like that. Quite the opposite actually.

Then it was my turn to speak and wouldn't you know it, the computer froze up and I had to speak off the cuff. Sorry guys and girls. So I rambled on for about 10 minutes before it was Zed's turn. And wouldn't you know it, the computer started working again. It's just as well because Zed gave a fantastic powerpoint presentation just like Otto.

Zed

With our individual presentations done, the panel discussion commenced with Linn facilitating. The audience members were great and I think we gave them an insight into the world of full-time authors. Now it's up to them if they really want to take the plunge.

AFCC 2014 CLOSING NIGHT PARTY: MAKAN & MINGLE

"Every children's book brings a light in to a world full of darkness."  And if that's the case, NBDCS just lit up the entire region with yet another amazing AFCC!

In recent years, the festival has grown exponentially and it's due to the hard work and the long hours that Mr Rama, Kenneth and the whole team at NBDCS put in to make sure that it's an enjoyable and informative festival for everyone.

I'd like to think that my panel session with Emily Lim and Shamini Flint two years ago had something to do with the festival's continued success, or perhaps the performance of There's Soup on My Fly by ACT3 a year later had a small part in it too, but who am I kidding? It's all down to their indefatigible efforts to make it bigger and better every year. And my word, they have succeeded!

After a year of planning and a lot of hard work on their part, the 5th Annual AFCC was coming to a close with one big party.

Kathleen Ahrens kicked off the evening by sharing a few words before Festival Director, Kenneth, took to the podium to thank everyone and the invaluable NBDCS team, including the most energetic member Mr Rama. 

Then Mr Rama had a few words of thanks to say before everyone hit the buffet table and bottles of wine.

For the first time in months, everyone at the NBDCS let their hair down and truly began to relax for an evening with old and new friends.

I always feel this party is bitter-sweet because though we all had a wonderful time it signals time to part ways for another year or perhaps even longer. OK, so I am a sad, sorry, sappy, SAP but that's me. I admit it.

I'm really very proud of the team including" Adan, Carlo, Celine, Alicia, Jade, Judy,Vasantha, Preema, and Mr Rama for pulling off another amazing AFCC. And congratualations to the Board of Advisors led by Ms Claire Chiang. Long may AFCC continue. Anyway I'll stop rambling and let you have a look at some of the photos from the night.

Asian Festival of Children's Content Press Conference 2014

A few days after our return from London, the National Book Development Council of Singapore held a press conference for the upcoming Asian Festival of Children's Content. Originally conceived as the Asian Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference by NBDCS Director, Mr Ramachandran, the festival has grown exponentially and includes conferences for teachers and parents and is now popularly known as the AFCC. As Mr Rama has said over the years, he hopes the festival will bring Asian content to the world's children.

Mr Ramachandran, Ms Lim Li Kok, Ms. Claire Chiang, HE Vijay Thakur Singh, Mr Kenneth Quek

As Deputy Director of the Council and Festival Director of the festival, Kenneth kicked off the press con with a detailed overview of what participants can expect from the conference. And this year's conference looks set to be even bigger and better than the previous years', if that's even possible. Some of the literary glitterati who have attended the event in previous years include Susanne Gervay, Wendy Orr, Norman Jorgensen, James Foley, Chris Cheng, Alvina Ling, Rukhsana Khan, and  Sarah Odedina.

Ken and the book 'Water' which was launced at last year's AFCC.

Once again, there will be an impressive line-up of panels, workshops and masterclasses for parents, teachers, authors and illustrators. This year you'll  get the chance to get up close and personal with the likes of Sally Gardner, Atanu Roy, Leonard Marcus, Subir Shukla, Sampurna Chattarji, Sandhya Prabhat, Frane Lessac, Kathleen Ahrens, AJ Low, Mariko Nagai,  Andrew Weale, James Mayhew, AJ Low, and Ken Spillman to name a few. 

And if you are an aspiring author or illustrator, this may just be the year you'll find yourself on the road to publication. You'll have the opportunity to pitch their story ideas to agents and content developers.

Catherine Carvell "Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs", Sarah Mounsey "Purple Paw Prints" and Emma Nicholson "Princess Petunia's Dragon" are just some authors who attended the festival and were subsequently published! Not bad, right?

This year's country of focus is the Asia's literary heavyweight -India! 

HE Vijay Thakur Singh

After Kenneth's introduction to the this year's festival, the Indian High Commissioner , Ms Vijay Thakur Singh, took to the podium to talk about India's rich and vibrant history in story-telling.

Then it was time for Claire Chiang, Chairman of AFCC's Board of Advisors to announce the shortlist for the Scholastic Asian Book Award. 

Ms. Claire Chiang

The shortlisted authors are:

1. Aditi Krishnakumar for Ergo Sum (India)

2.  Catherine Torres for Sula's Voyage (Philippines)

3. Thia Shi Min for Dragonhearted: The Fine Spell of Words Alone (Singapore)

4. Sophia Lee for What Things Mean (Philippines)

5. Vivek Bhanot for Robin and the Case of the Summer Camp Kidnapping (India)


Congratulations to all of the shortlisted writers and if you would like to find more about the AFCC please click this link @AFCC Registration. I hope to see you there!

London, Day Four 2014

Day four was the first day without a hint of rain. Ken, Celine and I made and early start, stopping by Gregg's for a quick breakfast and braving the wind chill factor on our wat to the fair. 

The lovely ladies of Jacaranda were already there and ready to pitch my books to potential publishers, thanks, ladies! 

As Ken and Celine were busy taking care of business, I walked around the two halls of booths. It was massive. It makes one realise just how many publishers, authors and illustrators there are out there. The competition is stiff and I now feel that I should have gone into accounting.

Emma arrived shortly after 10am and we went to a panel discussion by the Book Trust. Interesting and informative we were compelled to introduce ourselves to Book Trust Chief Executive, Viv Bird. I broached the topic of her possibly coming to the Asian Festival of Children's Content and she was interested to hear more. Let's hope the Book council can follow up on this.

Auntie Susanna and Mika were at the Singapore Pavilion when I returned and we decided to lunch at one of  the cafeterias. Mika had a vegetarian selection and Auntie Susanna had the braised beef and mash. A famished Annabelle from NAC joined us at our table and all too soon it was time for Kenneth's panel discussion about children's literature in Singapore. My publisher, Edmund Wee and Mei Lin Lee of Marshall Cavendish were also was also a featured on the panel which was moderated by Paul Tan.

But before the panel started, I . had a pleasant surprise when I bumped into the brilliant author, John Dougherty, my fellow panellist from SWF two years ago. It was great catching up again.

And....the panellists did a great job, deftly fielding  the tough questions about publishing in Singapore. 

And my favourite part of the session is the photo below!

With that done, Auntie Susanna and Mika tubed int to Civent Garden for a spot of shopping and Emma and I caught up with the lovely Anita Loughrey for some tea. It's always lovely seeing her.

But she had to dart off for a writer's event, so Emma and I attended the Singapore networking night. Annabelle  busy running around before cocktail hour but I managed to stop her for a quick photo with Emma. Please note Emma is holding the kopitiam cup Mum donated to the booth

Emma's good friend and Award winning author Andrew Weale joined us there. Andrew  is brilliant and hilarious! It was great meeting him and he'll be in Singapore for the AFCC next month.

The social went on till we were told the power would be shut off and so we headed back to the hotel for a quick change and then onto a not so quick dinner at the Troubabor.  

I'm doing laundry tomorrow. I bet you never thought you would hear me say that. Well, neither did I!