Here are 15 kid-friendly workshops and book launches to check out at the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) happening 26-29 May 2022.
The June school holiday is upon us soon and here's a great way to kick it off - the Asian Festival of Children's Content 2022! If you don't know about the AFCC, it's a major literary event that has been held in Singapore since 2010 to promote the creation and appreciation of Asian children’s and young adult literature. This year, the festival is happening 26-29 May 2022 with a mixture of in-person and online events.
It is chockful of programs like panel discussions, presentations and workshops which are great for writers, illustrators, parents and educators to hear and learn from renowned industry creatives and experts. Majority of the programme are more suited for adults and aspiring writers in their teens, but there are also events like workshops and book launches that are suitable for younger children and many are free - this including the book launch of My BFF Is an Alien: Invasion by yours truly!
Here are 15 kid-friendly workshops and book launches at the AFCC 2022. Do note that the timings are all in SGT and venues are all at National Library Building (NLB), 100 Victoria Street, Singapore, 188064, unless otherwise stated.
27 MAY 2022 (Friday)
3:30PM—4:30PM - Book launch: Olly the Submarine by Shuying Ke and MaryAnn Loo
Venue: NLB, Level 5, Imagination room
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Olly is a little boat living in a sheltered bay. All his friends have large sails and race like the wind, leaving Olly behind. Olly wants to be faster but he is heavy and slow. He leaves his bay and travels across the ocean in search of his sails.
28 MAY 2022 (Saturday)
10AM–11AM - Book Launch: Manju’s Stupendous Masala Thosai by Abhi Krish and Vasudevan Ananthakrishnan
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Manju dreams up an amazing one-of-a-kind masala thosai but Neil calls it a disastrous monstrosity! To prove him wrong, Manju races across the neighbourhood to put her creation together. Will she succeed? Join Manju and her friends in this tale of multicultural teamwork and friendship, as they discover how despite cultural differences, our favourite foods are in fact very similar.
10:30AM–11:30AM - Book Launch: Parvati the Elephant’s Very Important Day by Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan and Tanaya Vyas
Venue: Online via Zoom. See AFCC website for more details.
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Parvati, the Elephant, has an important role to play in the temple, and she’s very excited about doing it. But sometimes unexpected things can get in the way of a crucial task. Will Parvati be able to complete the job that she has set out to do? Parvati the Elephant’s Very Important Day shares a universal story about duty, responsibility and success. Structured as a rhyming picture book, it showcases Kerala temple traditions by narrating a day in the life of a temple elephant.
12PM–1PM - Book Launch: Where Shall I Sleep Tonight? by Joanne Poon and Heng Li Ching
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: This thoughtfully written and sensitively illustrated story follows a bunny as she goes from relative to relative and from neighbour to friend to stay, making her own adventure in a less than ideal situation. In the process, she learns about looking after herself and thinking about the needs of others.
2PM–3PM - Book Launch: Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma #2: Coming of Age by Melanie Lee and Arif Rafhan
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free. RSVP at Peatix.
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: The adventures of Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma continue! As Team ASH grows in number, Ash juggles being a responsible superhero, a supportive grandchild and a kind friend. Meanwhile, is Ah Ma’s dementia getting worse? How will the team cope with a new nemesis and the strange developments happening in town? Join Ash, Ah Ma, and the rest of Team ASH as they try to save the neighbourhood and, at the same time, face the changes that come with growing up and growing old.
2PM–3PM - Book Launch by Scholastic Asia
Venue: Online via AFCC Facebook
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Book launch of Blue Squared by Luna Orchid, Red Eyes by Varsha Seshan, Fire Heart by Joyce Ch’ng and Chopsticks by Toma Nguyen.
3:30PM-4:30PM - Workshop: Talking Your Way Out! by Abhi Krish, Evelyn Sue Wong, Quek Hong Shin and Rilla Melati
Venue: NLB, Level 5, Imgination room
Price: Free with pre-registration
Age group: Suitable for children 6-9 years old.
Details: When mysterious clues pop up across Singapore begging for their true meaning to be uncovered, a group of unsung heroes steps up to the challenge and form… The Super Golis! But they won’t be able to do it on their own. Join hands with Singapore's favorite children's storybook characters as they dive through a zany maze of multilingual clues and work together to unlock the final mystery. Super Golis… Unite! (Psst… Golis are marbles)
Participants will be split into teams. This interactive session will be in English with help (if needed!) to solve clues in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.
4PM–5PM - Book Launch: Cultural Adventurers: In the Porcelain Kingdom by Dingli Stevens and Liang Kun
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Elena is designing her own tile for her school’s porcelain class but, soon, she feels too tired to work on it. As she stares at her tile in a daze, her toy bird, Zac, begins to talk to her and takes her to the Porcelain Kingdom. Along the journey, Elena meets her classmate, Eddie, and the two explore the amazing Porcelain Kingdom. What will Elena and Eddie find there? Will Elena be able to finish designing a beautiful tile for her porcelain class?
5PM–6PM - Book Launch: Out of the Box by Pippa Chorley and Danny Deeptown
Venue: NLB, Level 5, Imagination room
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: When Sam receives a curious gift from her grandma, she launches into an out-of-this-world adventure to save her new friends. Join Sam on a rocketing ride into space where she learns that with a little imagination, anything is possible. A fun rhyming story that demonstrates the power of a child’s imagination and how solutions to problems can be found through play!
5:30PM–6:30PM - Book Launch: Ally at the Airport / Ally di Lapangan Terbang by Norlin Samat
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Ally’s Adventures is a bilingual (English-Malay) children’s book series set in Singapore, featuring a little girl-cat named Ally. This is the seventh instalment of the series, join Ally on a trip to the airport. Let’s explore the many things we can do there!
29 MAY 2022 (SUNDAY)
10AM–11AM - Book Launch: Just a Little Mynah: Makan Mischief! by Evelyn Sue Wong and Dhanendra Poedjono and Catch Mee If You Can by Low Lai Chow and Lee Jia Zhen
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Every Saturday, Jen and Jay eat the same fishball noodles at the hawker centre—and they're bored! Good thing their friend Little Mynah is around to introduce them to different makan delights. But oops—in her excitement, the eager mynah has ordered way too much. How will they finish all that food?
Who doesn't love noodles? From mee hoon kueh to mee sua, author Low Lai Chow’s light, rhythmic prose introduces kids to the myriad of noodles Singapore has to and also pays homage to many local noodle dishes.
12PM–1PM - Book Launch: My BFF Is an Alien: Invasion by Vivian Teo
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: In the fourth and final book of the My BFF Is an Alien series, The Others are causing injury and destruction as they rage vicious storms across Singapore. Abriana and Octavia are on a mission to stop them, but when these powerful beings can transform themselves into anyone—their classmates, their parents, their closest friends—the girls don’t know who they can trust.
2PM–3PM - Book Launch: My Name is Adam. I have Type 1 Diabetes by Candy Gan and Farah Iqbal
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Adam looks like any other 10-year-old boy. He has many friends and enjoys sports. But something changed a year ago. Adam now needs to prick and inject himself with insulin every day. Can Adam live life like before? Have you met someone with Type 1 Diabetes like Adam?
3:30PM-5PM - Workshop: Dream Big: Draw Giant Comics by Melanie Lee and Arif Rafhan
Venue: NLB, Level 5, Imagination room
Price: $20. Registration required.
Age group: Suitable for children 8-12 years old
Details: Do you have a big idea for a comic? Is your exercise book too small to contain your epic story? Be bold and experiment — roll out your ideas on a giant piece of paper! Join us to create larger-than-life comics… literally! Materials will be provided to participants for this session.
4PM–5PM - Book Launch by Ungu Pen and Oyez!Books
Venue: NLB, Level 3, Drama Centre function room 2
Price: Free
Age group: Suitable for children and adults
Details: Book launch of Pokok Pisang - Kisah Todak Menyerang Singapura (Banana Tree - The Tale of Garfish Attacking Singapore) by Maria Mahat and Hamdan Ali, Perigi - Kisah Radin Mas Ayu (Well - The Tale of Radin Mas Ayu) by Maria Mahat and Hamdan Ali, and Lepiong dan Cepiong Mencari Makan (Lepiong and Cepiong goes on a food trail) by Shahril Samri and Hamdan Ali.
Disclaimer: My opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.