I recently had my biggest engagement in a school – where I met International French School’s entire kindergarten kids over 19 author sessions.
I did storytelling sessions for the younger ones and shared different aspects of creating story ideas and writing and publishing with the older kindergarteners.
The teachers across the years selected different books to read to their classes in the lead up to my visit.
Tibby the Tiger-Bunny series were the favourite reads for the younger kids and Marky Polo Travels’ series and Little Godwit Finds His Wings were the favoured reads for the older kindergarteners.
I introduced the children to my debut book Prince Bear & Pauper Bear and Bunny Finds the Right Stuff as I shared the process of writing and publishing.
I was delighted to see the children decked out in Tibby head gear and Marky Polo headgear for my visits and everyone with character headgear during the Books Ceremony, which capped the end of a very bookish week.
I could not keep track of every quotable quotes moment. But I did manage to scribble down a few precious ones:
Most memorable answer:
Me: What does an author do?
Child: The author goes into a room and quickly closes the door before anyone else can go in.
Me: Haha…How do you know authors do that? Yes, authors like to have a quiet space to be alone to do our writing.
Most spot-on understanding of Prince Bear & Pauper Bear’s story
Me: Why did Pauper Bear help Prince Bear? (After we watched the animated clip of Prince Bear & Pauper Bear)
Child: Pauper Bear remembered what it was like to be lonely and so he decided to help Prince Bear.
Funniest naming of character in my book:
During my reading of Tibby the Tiger Bunny, a child spots a snail in the picture:
Child: It’s escargot!
Most heartfelt response when I showed the children a printer’s book dummy (completely blank book):
Me: Hey! Why is the book blank?
Child: The story has to be written first.
Suffice to say, I felt very welcome through my visits, like a mini-rock star.
Now, I am back in the quiet of my study room and shutting the door behind me as I withdraw back into my author shell (of the non-escargot kind). 😊
Just signed off on the reprints of my four-book award-winning Toys series today.
This will be the 9th printing of what is a most precious children’s picture book series to me.
My Toys titles were inspired by my personal testimony of losing my voice to a rare disorder and finding a new God-given voice as an author. ❤️🩹
My journey as an author started with my debut picture book Prince Bear & Pauper Bear, which was a Singapore Book Council competition winner back in 2007. I had subconsciously written about a poor teddy bear without a mouth, who could not speak.
At that time (17 years back), I was planning to print 3,000 copies of Prince Bear & Pauper Bear in hard cover.
I received discouraging comments from a few experienced industry folks who told me that I had no idea what I was doing. I was told that local children’s books wouldn’t sell in hard cover as it would be priced too expensively. And that a newbie author like me would be lucky to sell 200-300 soft cover copies.
Ben told me to ignore all those negative voices. So, I went ahead to publish under my own Mustard Seed Books imprint. With tiny mustard seed faith, that if I had God’s favour, I could sell the books. And if I couldn’t, I could always donate the books for charitable purposes.
I look back with gratitude on my author journey, which started with these four Mustard Seed Books and I thank God that these little books have grown in reach – with 150,000 copies in the hands of children (and maybe some adults…😊).
…And purpose – with two of my little mustard seed books Just Teddy and Bunny Finds the Right Stuff baked into Our Daily Bread for kids (through their Discovery House publishing house) for fresh consumption.
As the year comes to a close, I usually end with a look-back on my writing year. And this has been a full year, with a mixture of commitments and where writing and book talks took a backseat. It wasn’t all-write but it turned out just right/write (pun intended…haha):
Kidsread! at Epworth Literacy Centre (Jan – Oct)
I signed up as a NLB Kidsread volunteer with Epworth Literacy at Bukit Batok at the start of this year. Went through a half-day training with National Library Board and onboarding with Epworth Literacy and was ready to start!
It’s been a meaningful ride as a reading volunteer with two groups of kids (a preschoolers group and a lower primary group). These kids have learning challenges and are going through Epworth’s Literacy Intervention programme.
On Saturday mornings, we volunteers take turns to read to the kids and get them to work on an accompanying craft activity which reinforces the story. It’s been fulfilling for me to sit with two kids, silent for months, who finally started to speak and laugh with me. And it’s a very different experience from my book talks in schools.
Kudos to the literacy teachers who do the heavy lifting through the years with these kids.
2. Writing of a Gala kind (Jan – April)
I put on a different writing hat when I joined Epworth Community Services’ Fundraising Subcommittee this year:
wrote Epworth’s story for the corporate video for the gala fundraising dinner (held in April) and helped with the overall messaging for collateral and script for the evening
I otherwise set my creative writing aside in the months running up to the event as it was all hands on deck in organising, selling tables and everything gala.
3. My Grandfather’s Rojak launch off! (May- July)
My ‘much-delayed-through-Covid’ picture book finally launched off in May during the Asian Festival of Children’s Content.
My collaborator Alycia Teo and I won 2nd runner-up with our manuscript and storyboard at the Scholastic Asian Picture Book Awards in 2019. From then to now, so many life and existential things happened – my mum passed on, Covid happened, Alycia changed jobs twice and got married in between.
So, it was a moment of pause for me as I looked back at this book’s journey and how Alycia’s and my friendship was forged through all this.
My Grandfather’s Rojak took a book tour over the next few months as I made author visits to 5 preschools. The book was selected for Star Learners Book Club, which also saw its 30+ centres go rojak in their theme and set up rojak stalls in their centres! It was bookishly delicious!
4. Signed 1st chapter book contract with new publisher (Sep)
I signed my very first chapter book contract with the Southeast Asian office of an international publisher - a milestone for me. More on that next year!
5. I Really, Really Don’t Feel Well! (October)
I Really, Really Don’t Feel Well! children’s picture e-book launched in October during Mental Wellness Month. This book is a collaboration with my creative charity buddy Josef Lee and Epworth Community Services to raise awareness on early childhood trauma and distress.
It was a really challenging book to write and I felt like giving up midway through. I thank God for the promptings that came when I was at my giving-up point. Slowly, names popped up for me to reach out to for expert views, and one came after another, till the story was nailed down. Very thankful how the book came together.
6. Personal Journey Stories (May/October)
I was invited by two schools to share on my personal writing journey.
The invitation to St Hilda’s Primary School came from an early childhood educator who received the e-copy of I Really, Really Cannot Catch These Words! from a fellow educator.
The second invitation came from the Principal of Methodist Girls’ School. She invited me to speak at the MGS Sec 4 International Baccalaureate Service, the last service of the year before the girls move on to ACS International next year.
As timing would have it, National Junior College’s Principal decided to read my Prince Bear & Pauper Bear to her graduating year of NJCsians. She also shared my personal story of how I lost my voice to a rare disorder and found my new voice in writing.
I’m on the organising committee for LittAsia 2024, a regional conference of Christian writers and publishers. The wheels of planning are moving amidst everything else and we have been Zooming it for our committee meetings. Chugging along…
8. Shiny Shower of Medallic favour (Oct/Nov/Dec)
This last quarter came with a shiny shower of medals, which I am most grateful for:
Marky Polo Travels series won Gold Medal for Best Picture Book Series at the US-based Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.
This followed with the Covid-19 Public Service Medal (PBM) from the Prime Minister’s Office, which was given out by our Health Minister at a public ceremony.
I was privileged to be on the 2023 Most Inspiring Women List organised by Singapore 40 over 40, based on a nomination by a new friend.
The year ended with receiving the Covid Resilience Medal for my creative work in support of public and private healthcare professionals.
I am thankful for a fruitful, meaning-full and Word-filled year of writing and books-related stuff, amidst other commitments.
And I look to God, the Author of my life, for whatever write stuff the new year holds.
“Thanks be to God who leads us, wherever we are…” – 2 Corinthians 2:24
As the year comes towards a close, I pause for my tradition of looking back at my writing year in this 2021 that is fast passing.
2021 turned out to be very much like 2020’s pandemic pause. Although there was no Circuit Breaker in Singapore this time around, our lives and movements ebbed and flowed with ever-changing Safe Management Measures in tandem with Delta’s spread.
When the pandemic started, I felt I could not ‘write as usual’. How could I…in a world fraught with so many problems?
Yet the pull of words has been especially strong this year.
This year has turned out to be a writing year like no other. I found myself with a bumper crop of 10 new books (9 new book releases – 3x of my usual output + 1 book for my dad). It was like a huge divine bookquet for my Jubilee Year this year, along with several other cheer points, for which I am immensely grateful:
1. Little Godwit & Little Mole find voices in Storytel (January)
Little Godwit Finds His Wings and Little Mole’s Awesome Star were published by international audio book publisher Storytel. This was followed shortly by my Tibby series. Storytel literally gave voices to 5 of my picture book titles.
2. Little Mimic’s Superpower (March)
The Little Mimic’s Superpower, the 3rd book in my Little Series, was released in March with a 5-star review rating from Readers’ Favourite and a beautiful storytelling by friend and former CNA anchor Suzanne Jung.
3. Marky Polo in Tokyo (April)
Marky Polo in Tokyo, as inspired by Caleb, was launched at a Zoom session at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. I was thrilled to also do a mum-and-son photoshoot for a Straits Times Life! feature for the debut book of my new Marky Polo Travels series and last book of my Little Series. Such a special interview for me.
Hornbills in my Neighbourhood, my 5th and last book in the local wildlife picture book series, was released! Reading up on these self-Stay Home Notice female hornbills topped the facts I learnt about our local animals in writing this series for Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
6. Just Teddy – My One-of-a-Kind 50,000 copies (May)
When I entered into a collaboration with Our Daily Bread Ministries, my hope was that my little Mustard Seed book would increase in reach and purpose. The print run of over 50,000 copies since launch late last year has been exceedingly, abundantly beyond what I could imagine. Praise God for this little mustard seed book that was baked into daily bread and multiplied in God’s hands!
7. Just Teddy in Mandarin animation (June)
My “fearfully and wonderfully made” Teddy went from print to animation in a delightful short storytelling video clip produced by Our Daily Bread Ministries Taiwan. My heart was warmed from watching and listening to the storytelling of how Just Teddy went from ‘ordinary’ to ‘extraordinary’, in the Chinese translation of Just Teddy, whose Mandarin title translates to Ordinary Extraordinary.
8. My Life, My Stories (August)
I spent many months interviewing my dad last year on his life story and more rounds of editing and refining of the manuscript this year before I finally decided to change the narrator voice from 3rd person POV (point of view) to 1st person POV. And I could not have completed my last mile of publishing My Life, My Stories without my dear friend Bernice who did a huge favour of doing the book layout for me and Hong Koon who helped with the printing. And it was just in time for my dad’s 77th birthday in August, which also marked the end of his chemotherapy treatment.
9. Moonbeam’s silvery shine on Little Godwit, Little Mole and Little Mimic (October)
For my Jubilee birthday, I received the sunny news that my Little Series (of Little Godwit, Little Mole and Little Mimic, illustrated by talented John Lim) won the Silver Medal for Best Picture Book Series at the 2021 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards! I was so starry-eyed that all three picture books were recognised in one silvery shine. No need any other birthday present liao, I told Ben.
10. I Can Recover at Home! – A Covid Home Recovery Guide for Families & Kids (November)
I have never written anything so fast in all my years. I didn’t have time to get critiques from my writing critique pals. I had to parse health protocols into layman terms in super speed. And I had to be my own editor on the language and story pacing front.
But, with God’s favour, the response to our Covid e-book (which I collaborated on with amazing illustrator Josef Lee and superman doctor Darryl Lim) has been overwhelmingly encouraging. It’s been very well received by parents and the medical community who told us that the book is very clearly written, beautifully illustrated and extremely helpful.
I Can Recover at Home! has been downloaded about 15,000 times from my blogsite. And that’s not counting the countless copies that went viral on Whatsapp. We even received an email from a Canadian medical facility saying that the book pdf had reached them and asking advice on how they could use this for their own community. We were also very grateful to be so well supported on the media/social media front:
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung shared our e-book on his Facebook and Instagram pages on our book launch day.
We have since launched our Chinese edition, with the Malay and Tamil editions to follow soon.
11. Marky Polo in Beijing (November)
Illustrator Nicholas Liem and I launched Marky Polo in Beijing at the Singapore Writers’ Festival this November. It was the first time we were meeting since our illustration kick-off meeting earlier this year. Nic of course outdid himself and blew me away with his brilliant artwork and humorous comic-infused moments in this 2nd book of our Marky Polo’s Travels’ series.
12. I really, really enjoyed writing my Wow Wild Asia series (November)
My Wow Wild Asia series of 3 picture book readers arrived in November! This was a series that I was inspired to write at the start of this year. I experimented with the voice and wrote them in 1st person, present tense for my first time. I really, really enjoyed writing these books in one go. And the writing experience and ‘practice’ gave me the 1st person point-of-view style that I adopted for our Covid e-book. Illustrator Evi Shelvia’s brightly coloured palettes gives this series such a cheery feel!
13. Find Happy through Sew Sow Good Stuff SG (December)
The final book release this year came as part of my Sew Sow Good Stuff SG fundraising initiative in collaboration with a mum and daughter and a few volunteers. Our fundraiser had a successful sell-out and wrapped up just before Christmas.
Find Happy is my very first inspirational concept picture book and it is illustrated by 22-year-old vet studies undergraduate Daryl Wang.
As this year comes to a close, I look at my Jubilee year without specific writing plans.
I only know that I would like 2022 to be a year of like-minded collaborations where I can use words to encourage and uplift at a community level. I’ll commit it in God’s hands to steer where that goes.
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” – Proverb 16:9
Amidst this COVID-19 climate, I’m mutedly delighted that Little Mole’s Awesome Star has received a 5-star rating from Reader’s Favourite.
Readers’ Favourite review:
“Little Mole was eagerly waiting for his special star. He wanted to know if his special star would show him awesome stuff …
Little Mole’s Awesome Star by Emily Lim-Leh is an adorable story that introduces children to the star-nosed mole species in a fun and interesting way.
The concept of finding one’s own place in this world and independence has been woven beautifully into the plot, making it easy for young readers to understand it.
John Lim brings the concept, the story, and the characters to life with his wonderful illustrations. The Let’s Discuss questions and the Did You Know part about star-nosed moles makes the book perfect to use during interactive sessions in classrooms to make learning entertaining. Children, parents, and tutors need more books like this one to make learning and teaching new concepts fun, interesting, and interactive.”
Little Mole has just surfaced in local bookstores this week. Look for my book at Kinokuniya, Times Bookstores and Popular Bookstores this weekend! Also available from Times’ online store Goguru.
I missed most of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) this year. I was tackling a strong one-month-long flu. Two courses of antibiotics later, I recovered just in time for the Scholastic Picture Book Award Ceremony. I attended a couple of sessions the following day before the air-con sent me into a coughing fit and back home. Thank God I’ve shaken off that flu bug.
I did have 3 wonderful takeaways from AFCC 2019 which had everything to do with Picture Books:
Picture a Book Loot
I stocked up on my book loot at the Festival Bookstore with the most gorgeous picture books.
And an added prize to the stash? An Elephant & Piggie Bookend from Closetful of Books, the official bookstore for AFCC this year. (Okay, I prized it so I pleaded for it like a kid.)
Ida, Always & Autographed
I’ll blog more about this book soon. But what I’ll say here is that this was given to me by my dear friend Hwee who scored me an autographed copy from bestselling illustrator Charles Santoso whom she cornered in the Festival Bookstore.
Tasting Scholastic-flavored Rojak
I’m still enjoying the bookelicious aftertaste of a Scholastic-flavored win for My Grandfather’s Rojak, a joint competition submission of manuscript and storyboard from Alycia and me.
In between two pockets of time there, I managed to catch up with a few dear friends. It was a picture-full AFCC for me!
Doing a book swop with my writing buddy Pauline Loh
With my decade-old lunch kaki Hwee Goh, bestselling author of the Plano Series
With friends Elizabeth and Alycia (also my SPBA 2019 collaborator) after the Award Ceremony
See who flew into Times’ Bookstore’s Singapore’s Bicentennial Collection of books!
Delighted to see Little Godwit shelved with a high-brow collection of books in the store and also in the store front displays of Times Bookstore at Jelita.
(Left photo) Little Godwit with my publisher Marshall Cavendish’s books on the standee to the right. Other children’s titles by Epigram Books and Bubbly Books to the left.
(Right photo) Little Godwit lands on shelves of heavy high-brow books and tries to fit in. 🙂
Little Godwit Finds His Wings is part of Times bookstore’s Bicentennial books collection – all going at 20% off for the month of August.
Read with the Times and grab your copies of books by Singapore authors before the promotion ends on 31st August!
I was thrilled that the Star Learners preschool chain selected Little Godwit Finds His Wings as their mentor text for their chain-wide Star project. For this project, the centers took reference from Little Godwit’s story to create their own centre’s The Power of Stories projects.
Screen set up for puppet-based storytelling. The birds on the white board were created for craft and storytelling
I had the pleasure of visiting a centre that staged a puppet show based on my book. I also visited 3 other Star Learners centers to share with the children how stories come about and the story behind my stories.
I’m happy that Little Godwit, the left-behind bird who could, flew into many neighbourhoods in Singapore through this starry project.
Thank you to Gabloverq and Hweezbooks for posting and sharing this with me! Encouragement like this lightens cloudy days like today.
And a big-feathered Mystery Reader reading Little Godwit Finds His Wings to a classroom of kids is very uplifting too. Thanks to my dear, dear friend Arlene who sent this photo of her Significant Other all geared up for the big read!
I’m elated to share that I’ve licensed rights for Just Teddy to Our Daily Bread Ministries (“ODB”) through their publishing house Discovery House. Under our sown-up collaboration, Discovery House has just published a new edition of Just Teddy with fresh ‘daily bread’ ingredients. This special edition goes out this week to Our Daily Bread subscribers in Singapore who have signed up to receive it.
I wrote and published Just Teddy under Mustard Seed Books in end 2008. It’s been my hope that my little picture books would grow in reach and purpose, like in the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13:32 of the bible. I had my own vision on achieving this – through a a big commercially-driven rights deal. And I came close to that in 2016.
But God’s ways are higher than my ways.
In mid-2016, when I was in hospital for breast cancer surgery, a friend visited and pointed me to Isaiah 55:8-13. I didn’t understand the verses and read through them several times over the next two years.
Gradually, I received important takeaways from these verses for re-ordering priorities and addressing personal issues in my life.
The latest takeaway came when I was in discussions with ODB. As I re-read Isaiah 55 during this time, I saw this in Isaiah 55:10-11:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
I had looked at Isaiah 55:8-13 many times, but only noticed then that ‘seed’ and ‘bread’ are in the same line. Only when I was in discussions with Our Daily Bread Ministries on a collaboration with my Mustard Seed book.
Once I saw God clearly in the picture behind my little picture book, I had fresh perspective on why this was meant to be.
It was a “(mustard) seed for the sower and (daily) bread for the eater” collaboration.
In ODB’s special edition of Just Teddy, my little bear with an identity crisis discovers the identity of his Maker- a skilled and wise Maker. All of his creations bear the words ‘Psalms 139:14’ on their label – it is the mark of their Maker. Once Just Teddy learns who his Maker is, the bear discovers his own identity in his Maker’s hands.
Just Teddy realises that he is no longer just teddy. He is his Maker’s awesome one-of-a-kind creation – “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
And I hope that my teeny mustard seed of a book, baked with fresh daily bread, will accomplish the purpose for which it has been made – namely, that our identity is found in God, our Maker.
Mum-Mum's the Word 
