Featured in Mother & Baby Magazine April's 2011 Edition

Thanks to Mother & Baby Magazine for the interview and feature in April's 2011 edition. To celebrate International Children's Book Day (2nd April), there is a special write-up on authors and illustrators of children's books. It is a privilege to be in the spotlight amongst many other literary luminaries including Emily Gravett, my very favourite, award-winning, picturebook creator.

School visit

I had the privilege to give a talk to the children and teachers of Good Shepherd Kindergarten. I shared with them my process of making a picture book from scratch (sketches) to finish (printed book). I also showed them some drawings for my new book which I am currently working on and, of course, reading Guai Wu The Chinese Elf.

Here are some photos from the visit.

Hot off the press!

Labour of love
25 September 2009, Friday - I have been waiting for the moment to write this post for nearly 365 days. My parents had taught me well the virtue of patience.

This morning before I dashed off to meet my bookseller, Wai Han my publisher at Ethos Books, was so sweet to send over some copies of my newly printed books Guai Wu The Chinese Elf. For the first time, I feel relieved. I flipped through the book but didn’t scrutinise my paintings and the printing like I normally will do. Today, I told myself it’s time to walk tall. My work is done, or at least I am down with only the marketing aspect for my book. That’s right, illustrating and getting published is only part of the book business.

Almost an entire year of hard work is in this picture book. Is it worth it? YES, and I will do it again and again and again. I have learned so much from my author-partner Adeline Foo, my incredibly patient publishing team (Wai Han, Hoe Fang, Adeleena, Alvin and Merlin), Thomas and Hao You at PICA Scans, Steven and Ah Man at Utopia Press and everyone else whom had shared with me their wisdom in creating picture books. Thank you all for all your efforts.

Special thanks to Professor Ma Wenhai at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who had shared with me his personal pictures of China. His constant notes of encouragement are like cushions. My gratitude to Ken Spillman for all his inspirational and uplifting words.

Also, thanks in advance to the team at MarketAsia for distributing my books, all the staff of Borders Books for their support for the upcoming event on next Sunday, 4 October, 2pm at Borders Parkway, other book sellers, as well as each and everyone who will come and support me.

Last but not least, thanks to a few very important people in my life - Hannah and Heather (for everything that no adults can give and teach me), Jon (for providing for us), mum and dad (who has never once force me to become a doctor or a lawyer) and my sister Dawn (for looking after my mum and never once ask me to go get a properly paid job), my trustworthy neighbours Mariko, KiSeung and little Yuri (for your friendship, support, kind acts and for saving me time after time), my generous friends including Selena and Boo Kian (who never fail to bring out a smile on my kids’ face), Miko (who regularly buy me coffee to keep me awake on Sunday), May (who sends me love regularly from Toronto) and ALL my little friends (who loves peeping over my shoulder when I draw and paint) - each one of you is an inspiration behind my work.)

So, with further ado, I would like to invite you and your child to celebrate with me and Adeline for the launch of Gu Wu The Chinese Elf on the following dates:

4th October 2009. Sunday. 2pm. BORDERS BOOKS (Parkway Parade) There will be storytelling, guided shoe making session*, exhibition of original artwork and book signing.

* Parent/guardian's assistance for younger children is required.

You can find more info on my Facebook Page.

31st October 2009. Saturday. 6.30pm EARSHOT at THE ARTS HOUSE
Singapore Writers Festival event Joint book launch with Lee Kowling, illustrator for Adeline’s Peranakan series, for Georgette’s Mooncakes and The Beaded Slippers, also authored by Adeline Foo.

Kowling will also be launching her new book Georgette's Mooncake and The Beaded Slippers at Borders Books (Wheelock) on 3rd October 2009, Saturday from 2pm to 3pm.

Please see the image for details.

We look forwards to seeing all of you.

If you are a bookseller, a school teacher, a parent looking for have us over to do a talk, workshop, storytelling, please drop me an email.
…

Almost there!
22 September 2009. Tuesday - I am glad that my book is finally printed. Last Friday, I went all the way to Tuas with my publisher to do the press check. Ah Man, the press operator at Utopia Press, patiently took me through the process and taught me how colours can be adjusted to make the final appearance more pleasing to the eyes. Binding should done on today. The books should be delivered to the publisher by Wednesday ... I can’t wait to see my labour of love in print. Stay tuned for updates regarding book signing and activities!

…
Book information
Format: Soft Cover Trade
ISBN: 9789810828981

Good Books, Good Food, Good Company

The first week of the school holiday has gone so very quickly. This week is all about books, food and company of friends.

Last weekend, Adeline, Kowling and I hosted two little workshops at the National Museum of Singapore. Hannah and Heather had a great time playing with Kowling's daughter Ashley on Saturday. After the workshop, we lunched at a cafe restaurant at Dhoby Exchange. I think it's called Just Acia. We enjoyed our afternoon there as there is a little play corner for kids while the adults get free flow of coffee tea and ice cream. But having said that, we all had only one each. After a nice meal, we dropped by the World Book Fair to meet our distributor.

(L to R: Adeline, Me, Stephanie and Kowling at MarketAsia booth)

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Behind a Picture Book - From Ideas to Words and Art
Kid's workshop at The National Museum of Singapore
Adeline, Kowling and I would like to thank everyone who came and join us at the National Museum last weekend. We had fun and look forward to seeing everyone again.

An afternoon of enriching the creative minds at Little Lit

The inaugural “Little Lit: Enriching Minds & Igniting A Writer’s Spark”, a Pre-Festival Event of the Singapore Writers Festival held at The Arts House on 24th May 2009, was a huge success.

Many heartfelt thanks to our sponsors and organisers - National Arts Council, The Art House, Monsters Under The Bed and Singapore Press Holdings, our publishers Ethos Books and Epigram, our distributor Marketasia everyone who helped out as well as ALL who attended the event.

The panel of speakers including poet Aaron Lee, authors Adeline Foo and Felix Cheong, together with illustrators Joshua Chiang, Lee Kowling, Stephanie Wong and myself were greeted by 200 odd attendees including children, parents, teachers, writers, aspiring writers and illustrators, plus many others who are keen to learn more about writing and illustrating for children.

All of us had lots of fun sharing with everyone our knowledge, journey and passion for children’s literature.

Adeline Foo, author of 13 children’s books, talked about the various career choices for a writer, and other aspects of writing such as book marketing, as well as sharing her process of writing The Diary of Amos Lee, a new book she collaborated with illustrator/book designer Stephanie Wong, who talked about the process in designing the character for Amos Lee and how to create illustrations and book cover for a novel that works.

Aaron Lee, a prize winning poet, an excellent speaker who was also the brilliant moderator for the event, talked about his love for poetry. He shared with us many inspiring poems that touch the hearts of children and adults.

Felix Cheong, an award winning poet and novelist, shared his wisdom on writing fiction for the tweens (children between 9 to 14 years old)and tips on penning the first word. A former TV producer and studio director,with the help of three youngsters, he demonstrated the use of sound to dramatise storytelling.

For me, it was a great privilege to speak at “Little Lit”. This is the first time artists are featured as part of the Singapore Writers Festival, which is Singapore’s most prestigious and only national literary festival.

My talk about Asian Influence in Children's Books covered a brief presentation of my work and illustration style for children’s books,a showcase of children's book illustrators in Asia, an introduction to Asian heritage, a peek into my childhood as a child to a Chinese opera performer and how I incorporate Asian elements, in terms of Chinese values and arts, in my new book “Guai Wu The Chinese Elf”, a story set in China during the Qing Dynasty, which should be in major bookstores by July.

Joshua Chiang, an all rounded animator and illustrator, shared his experience, tips and tricks on how he goes about creating his characters for cartoons and his first children’s book. His philosophy “Remain a child at heart always” conveys the message from every children’s book writer and illustrator.

Lee Kowling, a veteran in the book illustration scene, took us through her journey as an illustrator from the 90s till now. She explained how she developed a wide variety of illustration styles to meet the needs of the stories she worked on. It was a visual feast for the audience.

We look forward to bringing back the event again.














Little Lit, grooming Singapore's next generation of writers
From 8 to 16, they came and absorbed everything about writing and publishing

Mr Phan Ming Yen (Director of The Arts House) gave an opening speech.













Speakers Felix Cheong, Adeline Foo, Stephanie Wong
Illustrators panel - Joshua Chiang, Christine Lim Simpson, Lee Kowling

Poet, emcee and moderator Aaron Lee















The crowd of 200 plus parents and children (Many others had to be turned away, our sincere apologies)

We are in the Sunday Times!

Author Adeline Foo and illustrators Lee Kowling, Christopher Martin, Joshua Chiang and myself were interviewed by Singapore press on Wednesday. The interview was featured on Sunday Times today.

To read, click on the image.

Meet the monster gang

I have been keeping silence for a few months now. I am so thrilled that I can finally let the cat out of the bag!

Last year late October, Adeline Foo, winner of the inaugural First Time Writers and Illustrators Initiative award, author of Ben's Rainforest series and Peranakan Heritage series, invited me to illustrate one of her newest children's titles. It didn't take me long to say yes after reading the initial manuscript.

Since then, I have been working tirelessly. My book which should be available in major bookstores sometime in May. Currently, production is in full swing. After nearly two months of pretty intensive research, hundreds of sketches and thumbnails, I finally started doing the final paintings a month ago. I must admit I underestimated the amount of time I need to work on the book. I also did not expect myself to be so meticulous over the details on the painting. Anyway, thankfully both Adeline and my publisher (Ethos Books) have been really patient. That really allow me to produce my best illustrations for the book.

Today, the first three books of Adeline's latest series (titled Monsters in the Mind) were launched at the Mint Toy Museum. Me, Hannah and Heather, together with Mariko and her daughter Yuri (our Japanese neighbour) rushed to the book event after Hannah's ballet class. We were fashionably late for a good reason. Wai Han called me when I was half way on the road. Apparently everyone was waiting for me to start the event. My jaw dropped! I was certain that I did inform them that I will get there 45 mins later. Before I could settle down, I was given a very warm welcome and a microphone. I don't remember exactly what I said other than thanking everyone for their support and patience. Truthfully, I am so lucky to be in the team of such wonderful people.

After the launch, the girls and I joined Adeline, Kowling and their family for dinner. We also pop by to see Christopher Martin, illustrator for "The Thing Under My Bed". He is also an artist and the creative director of Splatter. Together with his wife Angela Mather, they are selling their original art pieces Creative Australia 2009 event being held at Raffles City, Level 3 Atrium, from 13 to 22 March 2009.

Do drop by if you have time during the school holiday.

Also don't forget to bring for kids to meet the "monster gang" at Kinokuniya Takashimaya on the 21 March 2009, 3.30 to 4.30pm.

So check out MUTB for other events in Singapore .