{Guest Post} My Favourite Children's Author: Emily Lim

Emily Lim

This week, we discover more about a Singapore award-winning author Emily Lim. A graduate of the Nanyang Business School, Emily Lim's debut picture book Prince Bear and Pauper Bear is based on her personal experiences of coping with Spasmodic Dysphonia, a rare voice disorder. She went on to write more picture books, including Just Teddy and The Tale of Rusty Horse.

In 2008 and 2009, Prince Bear & Pauper Bear and Just Teddy won the bronze Medals at the IPPY Awards, the world's largest book awards competition. She became the first in Asia to win 2 IPPYs and also the first in Southeast Asia to win an IPPY in children's books since the inception of the awards. Her third book, The Tale of Rusty Horse also won the Gold Medal at the Moonbeam Awards, one of the fastest growing US-based children's book awards.

I am happy to introduce Ng Ling Siew, who will be sharing with us one of her favourite books by Emily Lim.

She is a mother to two boys – Nathan (almost 3 years old) and Noah (1 year old).  She recently quit her full time job, so that she could have more time for her boys. It took her a long time before she decided to stay home full time, and boy is she glad she did.  She’s started Mama Shoppe, which she operates out of home.  She blogs at The View from Mama’s Desk, where she writes about her boys’ adventures at school, at ‘work’ and at play.

*****

I chanced upon Emily Lim's books before I even had kids, and loved how she weaves important life lessons into her stories. Neal Sharp does a fantastic job with the illustrations, and really brings the book to life for young kids. We've read Bunny Finds The Right Stuff, The Tale of Rusty Horse and Prince Bear & Pauper Bear. Of these, my favourite is Bunny Finds the Right Stuff.

The story goes... bunny is a toy rabbit who isn't happy with the way he was - flat feet, floppy ears and droopy shoulders. He keeps thinking that he is missing out on some stuff, and was always feeling down. He went about looking for stuffing so he could stuff himself up, but was not able to find any. He went about filling himself up with soil and blueberries, and these things weighed him down further and caused him to feel rather blue. At the end of the story, we read about how his friends went about helping him to step out of his rut. In the end, bunny realised that he had been lovingly made and also was thankful for all the friends he has.

I liked that the story is simple, and spoke about truths that all of us should cling to - that we are all lovingly created, and special in our own way.

Emily Lim is from Singapore and her books are inspired by her own journey of seeking God after she was diagnosed with a rare voice disorder. She shared about how her own journey of seeking God took her down many "rabbit holes" just like bunny. Finally, she realised that her need for completeness could only be met through knowing God.