8 body parts you will want for your own: Super Cool Japanese demon anatomy

Want some super-human anatomy? Super-strength and super-speed are so passé. What you need are some Super Cool bits of Japanese demon anatomy. Check these out: 1)     SKIN: Ushi oni (Cow demon) 牛鬼 (うしおに) A nasty yokai who loves sinking ships and eating fishermen, the ushi-oni (also known as gyuuki) lives in the ocean. He has [...]

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Let the Book Week begin!

Woo hoo! Childrens Book Week has begun! I spent this morning at Belmont’s Ruth Faulkner Public Library with students in Year 6 and 7 and it was terrific fun! It’s SO GOOD to scare readers share with readers some of the legends behind the Japanese demons from my books. The kids had heaps of great [...]

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Cover art for Takeshita Demons: Monster Matsuri – what do you think?

Woo hoo! This week I can give you a sneak peek at the cover art for Takeshita Demons: Monster Matsuri… The sneakiest peek goes to the My Favourite Books blog, who feature an interview with me this week and showcase the new cover as part of it… …but…for those of you who haven’t yet seen… [...]

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Quick quiz: Is your persimmon haunted?

Ever thought you might like to munch a chocolate bar instead of an apple? Prefer to eat banana cake and not bananas? Well, you’re probably wise. Fruit can be dangerous for your health! Take the persimmon, for example. Persimmons are shiny orange fruit full of vitamin C and calcium and iron and lots of other [...]

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Guest blogging for the Christchurch Kids Blog…all this month

Want to discover some new Japanese demons and monsters? Want to hear about some spooky Japanese superstitions and proverbs? Want to win a copy of Takeshita Demons? All this month I’m blogging as a Star Author for the Christchurch Kids Blog… I’ll cover all the above topics and more, so head on over and join [...]

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4 ways to recognise a Japanese iso-onna vampire

Introducing the aquatic vampire: iso-onna… The iso onna (磯女 or ‘beach rock woman’) is a super-scary Japanese yokai found in fishing villages all over Japan. She has many different names, and all of them seem friendly enough: – iso onago = rock girl – umi onna = ocean woman – umi hime = ocean princess [...]

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You’ve heard of the headless horseman? How about the headless horse?

You’ve heard of the headless horseman, right? He’s a famous legend that grew from a character in a story published in America nearly 100 years ago. But…have you heard of the headless horse? The headless horse is the favourite method of transport for a Japanese ogre called Mr Yagyo, or Yagyo-san. Introducing Yagyo-san Mr Yagyo [...]

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Make your own monster: in Japanese and English

I’m just back from a terrific conference with the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators. It was great!! I am all inspired and fired up to start work on ideas for a Takeshita Demons book 5 (and I think book 4 is nearly ready to start writing!) Monster self-introductions If you’re looking for inspiration [...]

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There’s a tanuki in the classroom! Japanese language learning and yokai demons

Creative language teaching ideas Today I was at the Hyogo Prefectural Cultural Government Centre as part of a series of workshops organised by Ms Yuko Fujimitsu, Japanese Language Advisor for the Department of Education as part of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (NALSSP). We worked with Year 9 students from three [...]

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8 signs that your snail is an ogre: Sazae-oni revealed

Ever squashed a snail in the street? Ever eaten a snail, albeit with French cheese? Ever filled an icecream container with snails, painted their shells different colours using your new set of textas, then raced them all afternoon? (OK, so maybe this last one is just me and my sisters, but still…) Ever wondered what [...]

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