28 Sep 2015 [Events]
On 25-26 September 2015, the Book Council exhibited a booth at the Early Childhood Conference & Carnival (ECCC) 2015 at the Suntec City Convention Centre Halls 401+402!
At our booth (G5), we met with many preschool teachers, parents, and members of the public, and shared with them interesting information about the Book Council, as well as the events we organise, in particular, the Asian Festival of Children's Content.
On Day 2, we held an Illustration Session with Doodler Samantha Neubronner in the morning, followed by a Face Painting Session with Elieth Sardiñas, author of Dear Mister Cat!
On Saturday, we also invited Dr Myra Garces-Bacsal to conduct an insightful talk for parents on how to raise lifelong readers, at the Stage.
Thank you again for all those who popped by our booth. We look forward to seeing you at our future events! :)
7 Sep 2015 [Events]
On 29 August 2015, Fanny Lai shared stories about growing up in Changi Village. The Mandarin storytelling session, co-organised by the Book Council, was an eye-opening experience for younger participants who were not familiar with kampong life! The children were able to try traditional snacks and games such as chapteh, kuti-kuti and five-stones.
At an earlier Mandarin storytelling session on 15 August, Liang Huiyu also narrated the story of The Three Little Pigs while the children volunteered to play the different characters using finger puppets.
Huiyu read aloud the role reversal of The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, which further enthralled the young audience (aged 5 – 12 years old) as the story progressed.
The event was organised by the Promote Mandarin Council, and supported by the Book Council and NLB Public Libraries.
We at the Book Council love reading in public, and we love it when a day is dedicated to reading in public. Luckily for us, today, the 28th of August, is International Read Comics in Public Day, so we totally did that!
Our six readers answered three questions about their comics habits:
Kenneth
What are you reading, and what’s it about? The Wicked + The Divine v1: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, about gods visiting the Earth every few decades in the form of whatever is the most popular form of entertainment during that time. In 2015, it's as teenage pop music idols.
What kind of comics do you normally enjoy? I tend to enjoy pretty much all comics.
What is your favourite comic? I have a lot of favourites: Y: The Last Man, Fables, The Unwritten, The Amulet, The Resident Tourist, and anything with the X-Men in it.
Vasantha
What are you reading, and what’s it about? The Resident Tourist v2 by Troy Chin, the second volume of Chin's autobiography about his life in Singapore after moving back from being abroad.
What kind of comics do you normally enjoy? I have actually just started reading comics on a more regular basis, and I've been enjoying the local comics from Dave Chua, Koh Hong Teng, Drewscape, Sonny Liew, and many others.
What is your favourite comic? I used to read a lot of Amar Chitra Katha comics from India. A lot of the stories featured are from Hindu mythology and Indian history. I still have a large collection at home.
Judi
What are you reading, and what’s it about? Our Months Together: A Comics Anthology by 12 Artists, edited by Wee Tian Beng, a 12-month compilation about getting to know Singapore by twelve different illustrators.
What kind of comics do you normally enjoy? Stories featuring everyday people like Archie and his friends.
What is your favourite comic? Garfield by Jim Davis, as he epitomes the city life of being chilled out and there’s no excuse not to enjoy life.
Alycia
What are you reading, and what’s it about? I am reading The Little World of Liz Climo by Liz Climo! The book has a bunch of hilarious illustrations of animals and their quirky traits. I love how she makes the comics so relevant and relatable.
What kind of comics do you normally enjoy? Cutesy, light-hearted comics are what I’m inclined toward, like The Little World of Liz Climo, Pocket Princesses, Eva, Kopi and Matcha, Baby Blues, and Zits.
What is your favourite comic? I think right now, it’s Pocket Princesses. The different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds makes for very interesting character conversations and interplay.
Mabel
What are you reading, and what’s it about? Eva, Kopi and Matcha by Evangeline Neo. They're a bunch of funny anecdotes about the differences in Singaporean and Japanese culture.
What kind of comics do you normally enjoy? I don't read too many comics unfortunately, but I'm looking forward to reading The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew.
What is your favourite comic? I don’t have a favourite right now, since I’ve just begun to discover and read local comics. As a teenager, though, I must admit it was Archie comics!
Adan
What are you reading, and what’s it about? Thanos vs. Avengers by Jim Starlin and many other 70s Marvel writers and artists. It's the earliest appearances of the cosmic villain Thanos, who has had cameos in a few of the Marvel films.
What kind of comics do you normally enjoy? I read a lot of comics so I pretty much enjoy every comic that gets put in my hands (most of which I put there myself). I even enjoy books about comics that do not contain a shred of sequential art.
What is your favourite comic? Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It is objectively the greatest comic of all time (in my subjective viewpoint).
