Leap & Hop with Isabelle Demenge and Emilie Sarnel (21/06/2014)
| Venue | ： | Causeway Bay Kiddyland Basement, 68 Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay, H.K. |
| Speaker | ： | Isabelle Demenge Emilie Sarnel |
| Host | ： | Ms. Christa Tam |
Review
Our members knew right away that they were in for something special at the Leap and Hop reading event with Isabelle Demenge! Why? Because the floor of Kiddyland's event area was covered with a 3m x 3m picture!
It was full of beautiful and exotic illustrations of things, people and historic sites out of the four books - Cambodia, Sri Lanka, India and the latest Hong Kong in the Leap and Hop series of travel books designed specially for children by Isabelle Demenge and illustrated by Emilie Sarnel.
Ms Demenge, with her troop of three young boys in the audience, knowingly described the challenges facing parents travelling with children to destinations that are not "kid-friendly" but are culturally rich, citing as an example her family's trip to Cambodia. Always wanting to make the most of a family holiday, Ms Demenge goes well prepared, having come up with creative ideas to satisfy the curious minds of her children whilst having lots of fun getting to know the cultures and people the place they are visiting.
She decided to share her experience by writing (initially for her kids) the travel books she couldn't find. The result was the first in the series, Cambodia. Readers can play I-Spy in Angkor Wat, distinguish Apsaras from Devatas in the Khmer temples, draw a Buddha, go on a treasure hunt in the Bayon and understand how currency exchange works, among many other activities. They are simply the kind of things her family enjoys doing when they travel, making their trip more inclusive for all ages, exciting, adventurous, fun and educational!
As Leap & Hop: Hong Kong was hot off the press, our members had the pleasure of being the first ones to see the brand new book! Ms Demenge gave out a small sample booklet that gave our members a taste of the interesting activities in the book. Ms Demenge also had a quiz to test our knowledge of Hong Kong which both parents and children had great fun participating in. Many found out that they didn't know their own city as well as they thought!
Last but not least, our boys and girls lost themselves in colouring and studying diligently, on all fours, the different illustrations in the huge picture! At the end of the session, we had a glorious painting, thanks to their efforts!
Thank you, everyone, for taking part!
Thank you, Isabelle, for sharing your really inspiring experience!
