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...

Culture can be as ingrained and omnipresent as sunshine for kids. Their interpretation of the world around them is of course influenced by those in their world; their immediate family, peers and community. It becomes the norm, unquestioned and hard to relinquish. As a 'third-culture kid' growing up in Singapore, Yashika Mody is well qualified to commentate on the unique qualities of socially accepted cultural norms having experienced them all her life; like the use of the words Aunty and Uncle within Singaporean communities. FUNcles is a picture book penned by Mody and illustrated by Adriena Fong that highlights one small lad's confusion after he adopts this terminology for everyone he knows. The results are both heartwarming and hilarious. Told in comforting first person, we first meet this boy in his classroom where he is assigned a worksheet to complete about his family (tree). He immediately proclaims that he has a gazillion uncles . Undeterred by the self-perceived ...

From the vast red centre of Australia to the war-torn terrain of central Europe, Joey is one of those characters who inadvertently sees more of the world than anyone ever anticipated. And he's not even real. Well, he is to Art. But how exactly does this intrepid little kangaroo traverse so many miles much less survive them? Joey Gets His Wings by Catherine Bauer and Jennifer Horn shines a beguiling light on this incredible tale based on real-life events. Sweet Joey, the childhood toy of Art begins his tale in Australia's outback under a blue umbrella of sky, just as any young kangaroo might. Together with Art he weathers the melancholy rhythm of country life and shares Art's dream-filled nights of flying off to explore the world.  When Art is old enough, he joins the Australian Flying Corps and is sent off to the Great War with little else but fierce determination. Fortunately, little Joey with his address-embroidered red scarf and jolly smiling face, accompanies him....

There's a lot swirling around in the universe, depending on which one you're orbiting through. For a diminutive soul like Leif, the cosmos can assume overwhelming proportions which despite his heroic Viking namesake, aren't always easy to overcome by yourself. My Tiny Universe by Maryam Master , is a close up exposé of a universal problem; the art of being big when you feel so stupendously small. It takes us a while to realise the full extent of Leif's physical health limitations because he is the kind of kid to deflect concern and pity with intellect and absurdly rationalised thought. This is relayed through his impressive vocabulary and method of delivery which unfortunately also excludes him from more mainstream schoolyard conversation and interactions. Readers have scant time to dwell on this however because as Leif introduces himself, we immediately glean a potentially new and different side of his personality. One with arsonist qualities. One who is no longer 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...

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a mum. I had a younger sister, my bestie but to fill the sibling gap (and several years before motherhood would be a reality), I had a backyard of furred, feathered and finned buddies. Much like Little A, (my own moniker for him) our main character in Maura Pierlot and A Yi's latest picture book, Our Family Zoo . This little boy's backyard, and kitchen and bedroom are filled to bursting with animals of every description. There are your run of the mill domestic moggies and doggies, the old chook, plenty of questionable reptiles and amphibians not to mention a host of native pet rescues. It's exactly the kind of animal menagerie I yearned for as a youngster, although I did manage to rack up a loft full of pigeons, quails, budgies, ducks, chooks, mice, dogs, cats, rosellas, a galah named Freddie, and at one point, a ping pong eating giant oscar fish. Little A would have been proud. But where my parents drew the line at an Arabian stallion, Li...

We're all guilty. Spurred by an impulse too intense to ignore. Rationale and logic shoved to the backseat in favour of letting impetuousness drive. Despite knowing better, validation for such behaviours is often reduced to a dismissive, all encompassing, we did it anyway, which is the haunting underlying premise of Carla Salmon's latest young teen novel, We Did It Anyway. Hot on the heels of our first encounter with the youths of the coastal Red Sands community, this racy adventure focuses on other erstwhile members of the friendship circle; Alex, Otto and Jasper. The spotlight doesn't just rest on the boys however with Luna and best mate, Milly, firmly lending narrative nouse and balance. Set on the rugged island of Talmar, the group gather to partake in an Easter holiday life-saving club training camp. Opinions oscillate wildly about this; the boys are all up for a bit of freedom. Luna is less convinced about the camping vibe but with the twins' dad there to supervi...

-   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 ...

Those that know me well know I have a thing for small cute reckless ungulates. My goat fetish began in childhood however, sadly has never bloomed into full-on ownership. How could one not love those rectangular pupils, devil-may-care attitudes and ability to eat anything in their line of vision? The real question here however is, how could one not love Peter Carnavas ' latest junior fiction, Kid.   Kid is a miniature baby goat; dial up the cuteness level. He is sweet natured and open-hearted; giving Wilbur the pig vibes. And he lives on the farm and sleeps with the hens because Kid is an orphan. After a dramatic midnight mission to chase off a marauding fox shortly after his birth, Kid's parents, Buck and Bess disappear into the wilds outside the safe confines of the farm, never to be heard from or seen again. Audrey, the chook literally left holding the baby, raises Kid like one of her own and because of his diminutive size, they share a close and confidential co-existence. ...

Well, hello there! They say sabbaticals are the just the ticket for restoring one's sense of direction and refreshing one's perspectives, even unintentional ones. Avid followers, yes I'm talking to all three of you(!), may recall I made a soft promise a couple of years ago to level up with my posting. Who knew an intergalatic time warping conspiracy would reduce those 730 days into mere seconds!   During that crazy time shift, I didn't mean to neglect my ad nauseam sharing here. That part of my mo has not altered. I've just shifted my oversharing to other platforms, more easily updated on the run, accessible to a wider audience, more 2026 and less 2009 where I still feel at home!  Life has an endlessly fascinating and perplexing way of unfurling or rather unravelling at times. Best to let yourself tuck and roll with it I've come to appreciate. So here's a wee update and reaffirmation: Life stuff: still here! My life is probs no more extraordinary than yours....

As a young tween, the closest phenomena I encountered resembling pestilence and epidemics was the odd mouse and locust plague. Both highly irregular, indescribably disturbing occurrences that eventually, mercifully passed. For the generations before me, war assumed similar levels of upheaval and unrest. Imagine though being born into an era of extreme disruption, disease and prolonged uncertainty as your 'new normal' as  recently experienced by many modern-day Gen Alphas. How would you function? What expectations of the future would you possess? Would you want to escape to a better place? This is the unspoken premise of Wendy Orr’s latest middle grade fiction, Honey and The Valley of Horses . ‘Horses’ was my immediate pull card as I’m sure it will be for hundreds of equine enthused fans but the horses in Honey’s tale are much more than decorative incidental whimsy. They inhabit an enchanted valley and hold the key to the family’s survival and subsequent escape. Beset by t...

In a wild fit of self-indulgent promotional puffiness, I'm sharing this recent 'Meet The Author' feature courtesy of Jackie Hosking, founder of the ace Kids' Lit e-zine, PIO . If you don't already subscribe to this online publication, consider it. It's a regular veritable smorgasbord of publishing insights and opps, competitions and conferences, industry event notification and workshops and courses info to keep you on the right career trajectory. Not to mention opportunities to meet fellow creatives, like ME! So what are you waiting for. Grab a cuppa and have a chat with me ... and Pippa, of course! Hi Dimity! Thanks for sharing your creative journey with us today. Are you an author, an illustrator or both? Both - I wish! As an author, I only paint with words but I adore the alchemy of combining words with pictures. Please tell us about the book that you would like to talk about today? Pippa and the Troublesome Twins is the next thrilling episode in young Pi...