Friday, October 25, 2019

[New Book Launch + Review] Make Animals Great Again and Other Creature Campaigns

You read about "The Great Singapore Poo Sale and Other Beastly Business" which had the first edition sold out within half a year! In March 2019, we attended the launch of the second edition and in the month of October, Maureen had a new book launched "Make Animals Great Again and Other Creature Campaigns", the sequel to The Great Singapore Poo Sale and Other Beastly Business! How exciting!


Ideal for avid readers aged 9 and up- and for animal lovers and the young at heart everywhere -
Make Animals Great Again looks at what happens when the animals have to elect a new leader. There are many candidates, but who will be the best animal for the job? What values should they look for in a leader?


Xav was totally engrossed and enjoying the read during lunch while the beautiful illustration of the animals captured Vera's attention such that she said she had to share it with her teddy!


I have read the book too and loved how Maureen had used the animals to describe the Singapore culture to relate how parents are going all out just to get the kids into the top schools. Kids are being 'pushed" so hard to make sure emerge the top in the rat race such that parents began to take away the unstructured play, which is supposed to be there to have a balance of work and play, the government and the education system in a fun and humorous manner. Not only that, but readers also learnt about Singapore's biodiversity!

This animal lover was fasinated over the drawings! 

So who will you choose to be the next leader and what kind of quality should the leader possess? Physically strong? A leader who gives instead of taking? A leader who could give everyone money? Or a leader who is constantly thinking about how to help others? I shall not tell you which animal or insect won the unanimous vote, go get this book from Huggs-Epigram if you have not visited this store that sells books written by Singapore authors and enjoy some reads over a cup of great coffee. This is perfect as a gift too if you are starting to think of penning down your list to get for Christmas or birthday gifts!

The book launch will be held at the lobby of Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. It is going to be educational fun for both the young and old alike! The event is FREE but you need to register and RSVP for your attendance.



An excerpt of the story will be performed by the Players Theatre, everyone will be in for a treat! There will also be a trivia animal quiz as well as a chance to view some of the best works of National Geographic award-winning wildlife photographer, Jayaprakash Bojan and also to hear him share about his experiences.  


Admission to the museum lobby is FREE but for those who pre-order at least one copy of "Make Animals Great Again" can get discounted tickets to enter Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum at the following rates: 

Singaporean/PR Adult ticket: $12 (u.p $16)
Singaporean/PR Child/ Senior Citizen ticket: $7 (u.p $9)
Non-Singaporean Adult ticket: $16 (u.p $21)
Non-Singaporean Child/ Senior Citizen ticket: $10 (u.p $13) 

I asked Maureen what inspired her behind the writing of "Make Animals Great Again and Other Creature Campaigns" and the message she would love to bring across to all, especially the younger generation.

"For this new book, I was inspired by all the buzz about 4G leadership recently. When I was a teacher, I found that my students knew little about our political process, so I wanted to write something that would start youths thinking about how to elect a leader and how to be a leader. I hope this book opens an entertaining way for parents to talk with their children about what is going on in the government and the education system. Many parents go from zero to one hundred, not discussing current affairs before a child is 10, then suddenly urging the child to start reading newspapers at Primary 5 to help prepare for PSLE. Using fun animal characters, I think it would make it easier for parents to engage their children on these complex topics from an early age." 
                                                                                                                                                   Maureen
Details of Event:
Date: 16 November 2019 (Saturday)
Time: 3pm - 4pm
Venue: Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
Address: 2 Conservatory Drive, Singapore 117377
Tel: +65 6601 3333

Book orders can be placed here: https://forms.gle/9jMuZvriGYtkPH7M7

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maureen Yeo is the author of Make Animals Great Again and Other Creature Campaigns and The Great Singapore Poo Sale and Other Beastly Business (which was nominated for the 2019 Singapore Book Awards Best Young Adult and Middle Grade Title). Her travel articles, short stories and poems have been published in various periodicals. Formerly an English and Literature teacher, Maureen is now a full-time mum to a small child and a big dog. She is also the wife of “The Most Irritating Person in the World (Self-Proclaimed)”. Follow her on Instagram at @maureenyeosuiyin. Find out more at https://maureenyeo.wixsite.com/website 


ABOUT EPIGRAM BOOKS
Epigram Books began its trade publishing imprint in July 2011 to champion Singaporean literature. Since then, it has published more than 350 titles, including award-winning titles such as The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (winner of three Eisner Awards); State of Emergency and Ministry of Moral Panic (both winners of the Singapore Literature Prize for English Fiction) and bestselling children’s book titles such as the Amos Lee and Sherlock Sam series. 

ABOUT PLAYERS THEATRE
Players Theatre together with Players Workshop makes up one of Singapore’s leading Children’s Theatre companies, with almost 20 years of experience creating,
producing and presenting top quality content for children’s and family entertainment. Players Theatre was nominated for Best Production For The Young at the Straits Times – M1 Life Theatre Awards. Besides its Main Season programming, the Players Theatre also offers touring skits and puppet building workshops to schools. On the industry level, it provides services such as content creation and conceptualisation, producing, directing, writing, and set-prop-costume design including puppet and mascot building.

After 18 years working in big corporations, JP decided to quit and pursue his passion for travel, photography and conservation. He shot to fame in 2017 when his picture of an orang-utan in the water won him the award for National Geographic Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He has won a slew of other awards and his work has been published in international magazines. JP is currently based in Singapore.

If you have enjoyed reading my posts, do follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram !

No comments:

Post a Comment