My first boy book: Gasing Boy!

Gasing Boy is the first chapter book I wrote with boys in mind. Because of that I had to make the story extra exciting!

The main character in the book is 9 year old John Chow. He loves playing games on his PSP, so much so that he doesn't spend enough time on his studies. His mother takes away his PSP. He cannot have it back unless he passes all subjects in his exams. Unfortunately, he fails one subject! (I'm not telling you which one...) And this sets off a chain of events where John is sent to Malacca. He gets involved in a boys vs girls competition involving the Malay spinning top known as the Gasing. It's a high stakes competition -- loser eats dirt -- who do you think wins?

Gasing Boy is a chapter book suitable for children ages 8 to 11 years old.

Book for kindergarteners: Shall I take a bite?

In 2011, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to write two stories for kindergarteners for the Ministry of Education's (MOE) Preschool Branch. Shall I take a bite? was a story inspired by my own experience with durians. I dislike them although my whole family adores the fruit. I have tried it many, many times but somehow I just don't get it. This book is about a boy who has a similar attitude to durians, but has a different result. This book is one of six commissioned to support MOE's learning dispositions for preschool children. It is based on the disposition of reflectiveness and encourages children to think back on their experiences, learn from them and do better the next time. Personally I feel this is an important disposition that will help children become effective lifelong learners. I enjoyed working on the book with illustrator Drewscape. He was able to capture the spirit of the story and more. The illustrations are lively, colourful and imaginative...just w...

P1 & P2 Social Studies Readers

Last year I was happy to write 4 Social Studies Readers for use in Primary 1 and 2 classrooms. Classroom teaching is so different today compared to when I was in school. Children get to learn from big books with lively pictures and local content! For Primary 1 students, I wrote two stories: Siti's New Home and Don't Cross the Line! These two books feature a sister and brother team who have fun but sometimes get into trouble with each other. The first story Siti's New Home was inspired by Queenstown -- the neighbourhood I grew up when I was a child. For Primary 2 students, I wrote another two stories: New Girl in Town and We are Singapore. In the latter book, we meet a pair of twins -- Emma and Ethan. These characters were inspired by my own niece, Emma and nephew, Ethan. Like the character in We are Singapore , my niece Emma asks a lot of questions. Overall I enjoyed writing these stories and I hope students and teachers will enjoy reading them!

MJ's Classroom: The Boy with a Tree on his head

"There's something different about Mark. When he joins the class, everyone laughs at him. Can MJ help Mark get along with the others?" The Boy with a Tree on his Head is the first of a series of four picture books written for the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports (MCYS). This book is based on Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): Children must not suffer discrimination "irrespective of the child's, or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, coloir, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status".

Ho Lee-Ling

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