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Welcome to Paddyfield Youth Book Week! This year primary and secondary students have a chance to meet several beloved stars of the book world.
(We are still taking applications, though some events are full and others are filling fast! Call 2877 2699 to find out about availability).
We have a special last-minute SURPRISE! From January 30th, tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis for the all-singing, all-dancing, highly entertaining presentation by Julia Donaldson. Creator of the much-loved Gruffalo and writer of more than 60 books for children (from picture books to chapter books and even songbooks), seating for Julia's sessions is limited, so please do get your application form in as soon as possible. Apart from Julia, primary and lower secondary students can ask Gail Carson Levine how she came up with the ideas for Ella Enchanted and Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg. They can pepper Linda Sue Park with questions about life in 12th century Korea. They may feel hungry as they read Dim Sum for Everyone! by Grace Lin or thrilled as they recognise places they've been in the books by Roseanne Thong and Shamini Flint. And even students who don't like to read will be enthralled by the ever-entertaining Morris Gleitzman. Upper secondary school students will have the opportunity to hear Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club; be inspired to write their own poetry by Poetry Live, a group of Hong Kong poets who are back by popular demand; and listen to Namu Yang describe growing up in the Moso tribe, a matriarchal society in China. For more information about all these authors see below. Please note that these events are for school groups only as they take place during school hours. If you are interested in public events with these authors, please contact sally@festival.org.hk to be put on the festival mailing list or check out the full programme at www.festival.org.hk. We are still taking ticket applications from schools. Please call 2877 2699 for enquiries. To download the application form please click here: Application Form in Word Document Format AND Application Form in Pdf Format A BIG THANK YOU to our wonderful sponsors. Paddyfield.com generously joins us again as the title sponsor of the 2007 schools programme. We're excited to announce that The Walt Disney Company (Asia Pacific) and Air New Zealand have joined as first-time sponsors of the festival. The Australian Consulate General of Hong Kong and Hong Kong International School are kindly supporting the visits of Morris Gleitzman and Grace Lin respectively. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department are again graciously hosting the events at the Central Library. Our thanks to all our sponsors for making the schools programme possible. |
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AUTHORS Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson spent her childhood in a tall London house, creating imaginary characters and writing shows with her sister. She went on to study Drama and French at Bristol University. Her talents as a songwriter and street busker led her to work as a singer and songwriter for British children's television. In 1993, one of her songs was made into a book, A Squash and a Squeeze, with illustrations by Axel Scheffler. And so, a career as a writer (and a wonderful author-illustrator partnership) was born. Perhaps best known for The Gruffalo, Ms. Donaldson has published 20 plays and more than 60 books for children, many in verse. Her books range from board books and picture books, to chapter books and songbooks. Her best-loved characters include the Gruffalo, Princess Mirror-Belle and a wide array of giants! Her latest books are Hippo Has a Hat and Room on the Broom and Other Songs. Shamini Flint A former corporate lawyer, Shamini Flint started writing books for children living in Southeast Asia. Her aim is to create books that reflect the rich experience of a tropical childhood in this part of the world. Ms. Flint promotes environmental awareness with her “Endangered Animal” series that includes: Jungle Blues (2005) and Panda Packs Her Bags (2006). The “Sasha in Asia” series are children’s books featuring her real-life four-year-old daughter Sasha. Ms. Flint is also the author of the Singapore murder mystery Partners In Crime. She started Sunbear Publishing in 2004 and she also encourages ethical consumerism with her fair-trade tea and coffee import business Spencer Holdings. Ms. Flint lives in Singapore. Morris Gleitzman Morris Gleitzman has converted many children who thought they didn't like reading into avid readers. He worked as a paperboy, department store Santa Claus and chicken defroster until he was able to begin a career in writing: as a scriptwriter of TV’s The Norman Gunston Show. He wrote a number of feature film screenplays and telemovies, including The Other Facts of Life (1987) from which his first book was developed. His next book, Two Weeks With The Queen (1989), became an international bestseller. He has written over twenty books since; Doubting Thomas is his latest title. Mr. Gleitzman is also a well-known columnist; he has written regularly for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Melbourne Age, and for Young Telegraph. Jan Latta Jan Latta was in the rugged mountains of Rwanda when she came face to face with a mountain gorilla. The experience changed her life. She decided to write books for children so they could learn about endangered animals and help protect them in the future. She is the author, photographer and publisher of seven True to Life Books educating children about endangered animals. Ping-Ping the Panda and Chipper the Cheetah are two of her titles. Ms. Latta lives in Sydney and travels each year to Africa taking photographs and writing about animals in their natural habitat. After travelling to India she wrote Timba the Tiger. Most recently she visited China to create a new book on the baby pandas born last year at Wolong. Gail Carson Levine Fairy tales with a twist....Gail Carson Levine excels in this genre. Ella Enchanted (1998), garnered critical acclaim and earned her numerous awards, including a Newbery Honor. Ms. Levine's other books include: “Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg” which had an initial print run of one million copies, published in 45 different countries, Dave at Night (1999), The Wish (2000), The Two Princesses of Bamarre (2001), the picture book Betsy Who Cried Wolf (2002), and six "Princess Tales" books. Her books are full of light-hearted and heart-warming adventures with smart, sassy heroes and heroines. She also has a book about writing called Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly (2006). Ms. Levine, her husband, and their Airedale, Baxter, live in the Hudson River Valley of New York State. Grace Lin Grace Lin was born in New York. After attending the Rhode Island School of Design, she began to create children’s books. Her first book, The Ugly Vegetables (1999), was highly acclaimed and won several awards. Ms. Lin followed that success with the publication of over a dozen more books, including Dim Sum for Everyone! (2001), and Fortune Cookies Fortunes (2004). Robert’s Snow (2004) became the inspiration for the cancer fighting fundraiser, "Robert's Snow: For Cancer's Cure" and was featured on NBC's Today Show. Ms. Lin's first children's novel, The Year of the Dog (2006), was released with glowing praise. One Year in Beijing (2006) is her most recent book. Grace lives in Massachusetts with her husband Robert Mercer. www.gracelin.com Cheryl Long Cheryl Long has been an illustrator for 15 years. In addition to drawing and painting, Ms. Long has written a collection of fables for girls and women entitled Twelve Moons and a Maiden and a novel set in rural Quebec entitled Shine. Dragon Dreams is her first children’s book and she is now at work on a second one involving science. Quebec's mountains, trees and rivers inspire her artwork and words. She loves walking in the woods, listening hard to the silence and jumping in newly melted river water each spring. Ms. Long lives with her husband, photographer/carpenter Gary Matthews, and sons Evan and Sam in Quebec, Canada. Linda Sue Park Linda Sue Park is the Newbery award-winning Korean-American author of A Single Shard, a moving tribute to perseverance and creativity set in 12th century Korea. Her first book, Seesaw Girl, was published in 1999. Since then she has written many other children’s books: The Kite Fighters (2000), When My Name Was Keoko (2002), and Project Mulberry (2005). She has also written five picture books. Ms. Park lives in upstate New York with her husband, their two children, a dog, a hamster, and eight tadpoles. Poetry Live Poetry Live is a group of poets based in Hong Kong. They share poems in ways that show how relevant and fun poetry can be and inspire students to write their own. Amy Tan Amy Tan is the author of The Joy Luck Club, the beloved, internationally bestselling novel and blockbuster movie for which Ms. Tan wrote the screenplay. Other novels include The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), The Hundred Secret Senses (1995), The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001), and Saving Fish From Drowning (2005). Ms. Tan co-edited Best American Short Stories (1999) and her first work of non-fiction, The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, was published in 2003. Ms. Tan serves as lead rhythm dominatrix, backup singer, and second tambourine with the literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members include Stephen King, Dave Barry, and Scott Turow. In spite of their dubious talent, their yearly gigs have managed to raise over a million dollars for literacy programs. Ms. Tan lives in San Francisco and New York. Roseanne Thong Roseanne Thong is one of Hong Kong's leading resident authors of children's books. Ms. Thong wrote her first book for her daughter: Round as a Mooncake (2000). This success was followed by Red as a Dragon (2001). Her latest book is Gai See: Chinese Market (2006). Ms. Thong also enjoys writing adult fiction and poetry. Her works have appeared in numerous literary reviews in North America and Asia. Ms. Thong teaches English in Hong Kong and is working on a short story collection. Namu Yang Born in the remote reaches of the Himalayas, Namu Yang is from the Moso ethnic group, a matriarchal society near Burma. At 13, she left home for the first time to partake in a singing contest that ultimately led her to Beijing. Ms. Yang was the first Moso student at the prestigious Conservatory of Music, Shanghai and she became a singing sensation in China. She went on to pursue a career in modeling before beginning writing. She has published several books in China that blend traditional life among with Moso with advice to women on leading more empowered lives. She tells the story of her childhood in the widely acclaimed memoir, Leaving Mother Lake, co-authored with Christine Mathieu. Ms. Yang lives in California, Switzerland and China. |