About the Author

 

Sarah Brennan was born in Hobart, in the beautiful Australian island state of Tasmania. Her family kept a menagerie of animals including peacocks, guinea fowl, pheasants, ducks and goats, and there was even a wild platypus in the creek at the bottom of the garden! She began writing poems and stories as a child, and hasn’t really stopped since, though ten years working as a medical lawyer in London did get tend to get in the way! Coming to Hong Kong in 1998 gave her the impetus to follow her childhood dreams, and in 2004 her first children’s book, A Dirty Story, was published, followed by An Even Dirtier Story the following year, and a humorous parenting title, Dummies for Mummies, in 2006.

But, visiting Hong Kong schools, with children drawn largely from Chinese or Asian backgrounds, Sarah became increasingly keen to write for them about their culture and history…and in 2007, the Chinese Calendar Tales were born.  With great story lines packed with interesting vocabulary and history, and fact boxes inside the cover of every book, Sarah is delighted to see her books used as teaching tools in primary schools throughout China, South East Asia and Australia.

Sarah’s latest work, an evocative picture-book text titled Storm Whale, is under contract with Allen and Unwin in Melbourne, and due for release in mid-2017.

Sarah is also an ardent promoter of children’s literacy, running regular international writing competitions on her blog for primary school children, which attract entries from around the world including the US, the UK, China, Singapore, India, Hong Kong and Australia.

She is also an enthusiastic Writer Ambassador for Room to Read, an international charity promoting literacy and girls’ education in Third World countries, and speaks regularly to parents, teachers, librarians and their associations about the fundamental importance of reading print books in the digital age.

Sarah lives in Hong Kong with her French husband, two daughters and an opinionated cocker spaniel.

Visit Sarah’s funny and fabulous website at http://www.sarah-brennan.com and blog at http://www.sarahbrennanblog.com!

Watch Sarah in action on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhqxWLZkVd8.

Follow Sarah’s tweets @Sarah_Rhymes.