Dim's Write Stuff

  As a semi-frequent visitor to Singapore and unashamed appreciator of her creatives and the kids' content they produce there, it fills me with immense pleasure to introduce, Yashika Mody as she invites us to learn more about the genesis of her latest picture book realease, FUNcles . So, sit back, grab a cup of kopi (or your favourite caffeniated beverage) and enjoy! "Hi, Uncle!"   "Thank you, Aunty!" "One kopi (local Singaporean coffee), Uncle!" For those of us living in Singapore, these are phrases that you’ll hear on almost every corner, street, and neighbourhood. You'd be hard-pressed to find a child or adult refer to community elders by their formal names; instead, we use terms of respect and endearment like 'Uncle' and 'Aunty' here. It's one of Singapore's most memorable cultural traditions, but you can find beautiful parallels all around the world—from the Philippines to Latin America, and even in Hawai'i! Th...

Video games have had quite the bad rap over the last few years. They’ve shouldered much of the blame for the burgeoning literacy crisis and children’s waning attention spans. They’ve been accused of encouraging violence. And while I agree that excessive time spent playing games is not good for anyone, I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom, either. Today, I’m a children’s author and professional opera chorister. Around the turn of the millennium, though, I was simply a kid who played a lot of games. Computer games, PlayStation games … I even had a Pokémon-themed Game Boy. As a primary-schooler, I’d go to my best friend’s house after school and we’d play on her computer. One of our favourites was a game called Storybook Weaver, which helped you write and illustrate your own stories. We wrote about a llama called Lissette. She dinged like a bell whenever you clicked on her, a gimmick we found endlessly funny. Pictured: The author receiving a computer game for Christmas Could we have h...

-   I often describe my ideas as niggles, but a more accurate description would be having a giant billboard in my head with a sign that says, ‘Do this cool thing next’. Sometimes I metaphorically drive right past, knowing it’s not a detour I want to take. Other times I’m exiting early with a carload of craft supplies and paper. In the case of my debut graphic novel, it was a billboard that would not go away; it was lit up at night, nudging the corners of my days with whimsical little ideas, characters that would join the scenes playing in my head, and a loose storyline waiting impatiently to be written I made the turn towards my little gnomes early and with great excitement. As a collector of trinkets, my small-hatted friends have been companions in my garden for many years, and it brings me great joy to imagine their lives amongst the plants, playing survival of the fittest (the plants, not the gnomes). I knew there was a story there, but I didn’t know where it would lead me. As ...