What Should Children be Reading?
Panel Denise Tan, Kim Beeman, Lianne Ong, Mukhlis Abu Bakar, Nur Azeezah Fakrudin | Moderator: Loh Chin Ee
The expanding global children's book market offers many options for kids, but what should they be reading? A diverse panel of a librarian, bookseller, educator, parent, and student discuss the types of books that can broaden children's perspectives and reflect the community. They will also answer FAQs from the public.
Denise Tan (Singapore)
Denise is a bookseller who has worked with children’s literature for over a decade. In 2013, she very delightfully co-founded Closetful of Books. With Closetful of Books, she shares her love for stories by bringing bookfairs, talks and workshops with authors and illustrators to local and international schools.
Kim Beeman (USA/Singapore)
Kim Beeman has worked worked as a teacher-librarian in international schools in Thailand and Singapore for the last ten years. She now works as the Head of Library in the Senior School at Tanglin Trust in Singapore. She holds a degree in English from Harvard College, as well a Master's degree in Library Science and a PGCEi. Kim is also a member of the executive committee of the International Schools Library Network and sits on the Authors and Illustrators Committee for AFCC. Kim is passionate about reading, writing, and research.
Lianne Ong (Singapore)
Lianne Ong works as an editor and is an award-winning children’s author. To date, she has published 16 children’s picture books. She is best known as the author of the series, Stacey & the Museums – about local museums – and A Place for Us, about special needs. Her latest title is Sing A Song of Hawker Food: Humpty Dumpty & Friends Have A Singapore Hawker Feast which won second prize in the POPULAR Reader's Choice Awards (Children's Category). She stays in Singapore with her family.
Mukhlis Abu Bakar (Singapore)
Mukhlis Abu Bakar is Head of Asian Languages & Cultures Academic Group and Associate Professor at the National Institute of Education, NTU. He obtained his MA and PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Wales, Bangor, UK. His research interests lie in the fields of bilingualism, biliteracy, literacy learning, and socio-phonetics. He is Co-Editor of the 2021 volume The Bloomsbury Handbook of Cultural Identity from Early Childhood to Early Adulthood.
Nur Azeezah Fakrudin (Singapore)
Nur Azeezah Fakrudin is a Secondary 4 student from Queensway Secondary School. Her CCA is the Library club and her hobbies are reading and playing online games, such as Call Of Duty. She enjoys reading series books such as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson as well as fanfiction online.
Moderator Loh Chin Ee (Singapore)
Loh Chin Ee is Associate Professor and Deputy Head (Research) at the English Language and Literature Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. She is the co-editor of Little Things, Poetry Moves and co-author of Teaching Poetry to Adolescents: A Teachers' Guide to Little Things by Ethos Books. She is also the co-editor of Literature Education in the Asia-Pacific: Polices, Practices and Perspectives in Global Times (Routledge, 2018).
Programme dates and times are subject to change.