In 2012, when I wrote Cookies & Milk, it came at a time when my own father was poorly and unwell, and it helped to lift my hopes and spirits and make the Christmas season a bit more bearable. At the start of December of this year 2015, my 5-yr old daughter Madison was admitted to hospital for an infection in her body. Her cries of pain and uncertainty made it difficult to cope. After two operations in the span of a week, her condition stabilised, but as any parent can attest to, the idea of your child in the hospital is undoubtably distressing. It is a traumatic experience that affects both child and parent.

One night at the hospital, Madison asked to read Cookies & Milk for her bedtime story. I asked her why she chose that one. She said because it was almost Christmas and that Daddy wrote it. We read the story, as we did every Christmas, and she giggled at the same parts she did every year. Her small sounds of laughter were a good sign, a comforting thought that the story has had such a healing effect for both myself and my daughter. When we were finished, I asked Madison what did she like most about the story, and she said, “you reading it to me.”

Cookies & Milk:  A Christmas Story is now free on the iBookstore until December 31st, 2015.

Merry Christmas, and have a safe and happy festive season.

Download Cookies & Milk

Henry and Abbey
Once again, It’s that festive time of year,
When children dream of presents near.
For the gifts that can’t be easily bought,
They remain the ones most cherished in our heart.

So without further ado,
Here’s a gift from me to you!

Cookies & Milk: A Christmas Story is FREE for a limited time, through the month of December 2014.  Download your free copy today!

Cookies & Milk - T.K. Chung & Curtis Cunningham

Trick or Treat!  What better way to end the Halloween night with your little ones than to read a spooky bedtime story!  The Witchy-Po is available for FREE on the Apple iBooks Store for today only!

The Witchy-Po Halloween Pumpkin 03

Click here to go download your copy from the Apple iBooks Store.

Enjoy and have a Safe and Happy Halloween!

T.

Abbey and her Cookies & Milk

For all the little girls and boys
Who long for Christmas day,
May Old St. Nick grant your hopes and wishes,
Beneath the tree they lay.

But if one wishes to catch a glimpse
Of that special someone by the tree,
Be sure to leave some Cookies and Milk
And then perhaps you will see.

One must be quiet, one must be quick
To discover the greatest sight
That a boy or girl could ever wish for
On that Merry Christmas night.

 

Have a Safe and Healthy Festive Season.
T

Enjoy the prologue taken from the ibook Cookies & Milk: A Christmas Story.

Cookies & Milk Tree

Kano Kit

When it comes to finding fun and accessible ways for my kids to learn about computing, Kano is one of those crowdfunded Kickstarter projects that really caught my eye.

Over a year ago, I received my Raspberry Pi in the post.  For those who don’t know, the Raspberry Pi is a small, rather inexpensive, basic computer, its size slightly bigger than of a deck of cards.  It houses little more than the motherboard — it doesn’t even come with its own power supply.  The user is meant to gather all the external bits to build the computer, and then discover all the wonderful things it could do.  “Great, what fun!”, I thought, at the time.  Flash forward to the present, and my little computing bundle of joy is still in its box.

Kano is the project that has re-ignited my interest.  Using the Raspberry Pi, it proposes to teach kids of all ages how to build a computer and unleash their programming potential and technical creativity.  It does this by means of providing the user with all the bits needed to hook-up the Pi, and all explained in an exceptionally clear, intuitive and brilliantly illustrated manual.  The manual is divided into “levels”, like a game, where passing a level means the user has accomplished a specific task.  For example, Level 1 is building the computer; to win Level 1, the user needs to take all the bits that make up the computer and connect them to the board.

Last week, I handed the manual to my 5-year old, to test her reaction and see what she thought.  She is still an early reader, but she was able to read through the requirements and learn how to win Level 1.  Since then, she has been nagging me to help her get started.  Today, I caught her sitting by herself, reading through the manual, making sure she didn’t forget a step.  Her interest (and mine!) has now peaked, and I can’t wait to help her get started on her journey.

Kano Level 1

You can find out more about the Kano project at http://www.kano.me.

Looking for something to keep the kids busy while preparing your festive Christmas holiday meals?  Here are a selection of colouring sheets, based on original sketches from the ebook Cookies & Milk.  Just click on each image you want to download and print them off for your kids to enjoy some fun colouring activities during the busy holiday season.

Alternatively, you can also click here to download all of them in a .zip file.

Enjoy!

cookiesandmilk_colouring_05 cookiesandmilk_colouring_04 cookiesandmilk_colouring_03 cookiesandmilk_colouring_02 cookiesandmilk_colouring_01

20131124-233909.jpgThis image is taken from my book Cookies & Milk:  A Christmas Story.  It’s one of my favourite images from the book, as it reminds me of how Christmas can be a perfect time to promote reading and writing with your children.

Little is known on the Christmas tradition of writing a letter to Santa, but it is believed it started around the late 1800’s.  Young children would write about all their good deeds, questions to Santa, Mrs. Claus, the reindeer, and the elves, and what gifts they wished to find under the tree on Christmas day.

With our 3 and 5-yr olds,  this was their first letter to Santa.  They were really excited about the activity of writing the letter.  One Sunday afternoon, we sat down with them, ready to help them write it if needed, otherwise just encouraging them, giving them ideas on how to start and what to write, and generally making sure the activity was an enjoyable and frustration-free one.  When the letters were complete, we asked them if they could read it to make sure nothing was left out.

When the letters were ready to ‘post’, we gave them the opportunity to address the envelope to Santa, and asked them to read the envelope to make sure it was destined for the North Pole.  Lastly, we let them put the finishing touch by placing their letters inside their envelopes.

The aim is to make this an activity that is fun, enjoyable, and rewarding for the child, such that the reading and writing feels like it’s merely part of the overall experience.  Plus, it’s also great for the parents too, as you witness some rather precious and/or amusing writing from your children.

Hang onto the letters and they will serve as keepsakes and memories of an endearing childhood, or things to embarrass the child with when he/she is older, or perhaps even a bit of both.

WitchyPoHalloween_2013_ibooksHere’s a special Halloween poster of Henry and Abbey, courtesy of Curtis Cunningham, the illustrator of The Witchy-Po!