Life.Culture.Discovery.

Hong Kong publisher releases last of Chinese zodiac-themed children’s books – in time for Year of the Pig

With Ping Pong Pig, Sarah Brennan, a Hong Kong author and small publisher, completes a charming series of children’s books with a Chinese twist

The books are illustrated by the Post’s Harry Harrison

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Author Sarah Brennan with the last in her series of Chinese Calendar Tales for Lunar New Year at Bookazine, in Central, in January. Picture: Edmond So

Published: 9:00am, 5 Feb 2019Updated: 10:09am, 12 Feb 2019

Sarah Brennan is a Hong-Kong-based publisher with a peculiarly persistent passion for alliteration. Every year since 2007 she has written and produced a children’s tale to match the Chinese zodiac’s appropriate animal. These have included Oswald Ox, Sybil Snake, Rhonda Rabbit, Desmond Dog. The 12th and final one has just been launched in time for Lunar New Year: it features Ping Pong Pig. Her blog, Funny & Fabulous, has sub-sections titled Amazing Authors, Brilliant Books, Wicked Words and Teacher Testimonials. Even the charity for which she is a writer-ambassador, and which aims to give children access to books, is called Room To Read.

Should she ever decide to write her own tale, it would surely star Single-minded Sarah. For Brennan, the concept of the half-measure is an alien one. Her press release to Post Magazine about Ping Pong’s debut stated unequivocally: Important Hong Kong publishing phenomenon. Her blog is peppered with exclamation marks and fabulous doings. These merely hint at the full-on, indefatigable personality.

Oswald Ox. Illustration: courtesy of Harry Harrison

“I discovered I had a head for PR!” she says, cheerfully, one recent morning in a small Fo Tan industrial space crammed with boxes of books. “I love talking to the press. I love meeting the customers! If you want to publish for yourself, you have to be able to self-promote. I do remember – it was pretty horrifying – when an agent in London said to me, ‘Thank goodness you’re reasonable-looking because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to take you on.’ You can’t be a shy, wilting author any more!”