Blog on books for Asian children

In the dying moments of AFCC, I met with the amazing Tarie Sabido who blogs over at Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind about "children's and young adult blog about books set in Asia and books with Asian characters (regardless of where they are published and whether or not their authors and illustrators are Asian), and Asian authors and illustrators (no matter where they are in the world)". That is quite a charter and the site is a labour of love indeed. It is also a must-read for parents or educators looking for great stories to share with kids.

Tarie has also published a blow-by-blow report about the goings-on at AFCC for those who weren't there. See what I mean about doing what the mainstream media isn't?

A world of ideas at AFCC

My head is buzzing, buzzing, buzzing after three days of talking books at the inaugural Asian Festival of Children’s Content. So many interesting and lovely people, so many fascinating books and ideas to think about. It was intense yet fun being in a creative crucible with like-minded people bumping into you all the time. In fact, my head was so buzzed that I couldn’t sleep Saturday night. Alright, it may have been that Mars bar I ate after dinner. Tossed and turned for a while, then decided to get up and write about three crammed pages of notes out of my brain before my eyes grew heavy. If you have anything to do with books and content for children, I'd highly recommend taking part next year.

One of the ideas that grew out of AFCC – during a discussion at the very last fest session! – was a blog about Singapore children’s books given that the mainstream media (MSM) pointedly ignores this category. There’s a significant number of books being published every year in the children’s books category – a bulk of them as a result of the First Time Writers & Illustrators Initiative that jumpstarted my own writing for children, but hey, if no one is going to talk about it in the MSM, let’s do it ourselves. As a public service, I volunteered to restart blogging, something I haven't done for a while at Mamasez, to review Singapore children's books. Et voila, here I am!

Happy mother's day everyone!