As for the children, many of them are likely back in the hectic swirl of homework and enrichment classes, hopefully with some fun and games thrown in. The latter will probably come in the form of computer games, fancy toys and gadgets, and such like.

Things were very different when some of us were growing up. When I was a child, fun at recess and after school came in the form of Zero Point (also called ‘Yeh-Yeh’), Five Stones and Chapteh. These games were simple and largely homemade, and they cost very little. But they kept entire generations of kids like me happy and sweaty. Check out Page 26 of The Little Singapore Book which shows lots of games we used to play in school in the 1970s and ’80s.

To celebrate the start of a new school year — hurray the kids are out of the house! — and these childhood games of yesteryear, we have prepared a fun colouring sheet. For some of you, it’s also a chance to share fond memories of your school days with the little ones.

The Little Singapore Book is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

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The Sunda pangolin is native to Singapore, although you will not find many of them here now due to the loss of their habitat. As they are very slow moving, they are sometimes injured by passing vehicles when they stray from forested areas into roads. As recently as June this year, Acres Singapore rescued a pangolin that was stranded by the roadside. See the video here.

In many parts of the world, the Sunda pangolin has long been hunted for its skin, scales and meat, which are sold for high prices. Although governments around the globe have made it illegal to hunt and trade the pangolin, it has not stopped the poachers. According to World Wildlife Fund, around 195,000 pangolins were hunted and sold in 2019. In fact, it is probably the most trafficked mammal in the world. It is no surprise then that the pangolin is a critically endangered species close to extinction. Do your bit to Save the Pangolins here.

For little ones aged 4 to 7, use this fun colouring sheet to share all about this shy nocturnal animal that once roamed our island freely.

Tiger Tales: Almost True Stories from Old Singapore is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

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From cheeky macaques and fat otters to sweet songbirds and red-eyed koels that coo their wake-up calls every morning unfailingly, you will find many creatures large and small in the pages of the book. Of course, they are a small fraction of the wildlife that still call our island home.

According to National Parks, there are over 390 species of birds, 31 different species of amphibians, 69 types of mammals and more than 330 butterfly species in Singapore. There are 121 species of reptiles, including the mighty king cobra, a true blue native of the island. So keep your eyes peeled the next time you take a wander around the island with the family. Chances are high you will spot something exciting and exotic.

In the meantime, here’s a fun activity for little ones aged 6 to 8. It’s a word jungle out there. Can they spot the animals?

Tiger Tales: Almost True Stories from Old Singapore is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

The post It’s a Jungle Out There! appeared first on Pepperdog Press.

With gleaming golden bands slung around a jet-black body, the snake that Chloe has drawn is as striking as they come. It is aptly called the Gold-Ringed Cat Snake, and sometimes also known as the Mangrove Cat Snake although it is not just found in mangroves. The biggest of four species of cat snakes found in Singapore, it can stretch out to 2.4 metres long when fully grown.

It is mostly nocturnal, which means it sleeps by day on tree branches and only slithers down to ground to hunt at nightfall. Rats, frogs, small birds, bats and even other snakes are just some of its favourite prey.

Like many of its cousins, it is venomous but not life-threateningly so. It can be found in many parts of Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines. Here in Singapore, you may spot it in the Central Nature Catchment Reserve.

Check out our colouring sheet featuring the Gold-Ringed Cat Snake that’s perfect for keeping the little ones occupied.

Tiger Tales: Almost True Stories from Old Singapore is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books and Woods in the Books.

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Better yet, the next time you take a walk around the nature reserves or parks, keep a look out for them and see for yourself why Singapore is still wild at heart. Start with the kingfisher, a beautiful, brilliantly coloured bird that’s hard to miss.

In fact, there are up to eight different species of kingfishers that can be spotted here in Singapore, including the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) pictured here and on the cover of Tiger Tales. Perhaps it is so called because it can be found from Europe and Africa to many parts of Asia and Southeast Asia.

Standing at just 16cm tall, it is one of the smaller kingfishers in Singapore, but also one of the prettiest with its lovely blue coat and orange belly. Look out for it from August to March when it migrates from the colder countries up north. It loves to eat fish – which is why you’ll probably find it near ponds, rivers, canals and even the sea. In fact, anywhere where it can find fish.   

The largest kingfisher found in Singapore is the stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis), which stands more than twice as big at around 37cm. The largest kingfisher found in Singapore is the stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis), which stands more than twice as big at around 37cm. With its bright red bill, grey head, orange belly and blue top feathers, it is quite an impressive sight — if you are lucky enough to spot it, that is. Although it lives in Singapore, it is not very common at all. Occasionally, it has been sighted in Botanic Gardens and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Apart from fish, the stork-billed kingfisher also likes small frogs, crabs and even small birds for its dinner!

Other kingfishers found in Singapore: the collared kingfisher, the most common one on the island; the ruddy kingfisher that’s probably named for its reddish-brown plumage; the blue-eared kingfisher; the black-capped kingfisher which has a black head, red bill and blue feathers; the white-throated kingfisher which has a white patch on its front; and last but not least, the Oriental dwarf kingfisher, the smallest at just 13cm.

Spot the kingfishers at Botanic Gardens, Kranji marshes, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

Did You Know?
Many of us have sung of kookaburra, the merry merry king of the bush that sits on the old gum tree. But did you know that kookaburra is also sometimes called the Giant Kingfisher? Admittedly, this native of eastern Australia has some very un-kingfisher-like qualities: it prefers to eat meat, not fish. It is also rather plain with white and brown feathers, unlike its cousins with their beautiful, brightly coloured plumage. 

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It’s the latter that you will read about in our newest release titled Tiger Tales: Almost True Animal Stories from Old Singapore. We were very much inspired by the rich biodiversity of the island and we wanted to capture the time when it was wild and blanketed in lush rainforests. Through this, we hope to offer a precious glimpse of Singapore from long ago and the lives of its pioneers for a very special audience—our young readers.

In those early days, people lived side by side with creatures large and small. If you had lived on the island then, you might have spotted giant red flying squirrels gliding by, chased cheeky macaques from your yard, or danced to a sweet symphony of bird song on balmy jungle evenings.

Of course, things were very different then. How people at that time regarded and treated animals is very different from how we see the natural world now. There were often both fascination and fear when man met beast, and sadly, animals were hunted and killed.

But that was then. Far from capturing or killing animals these days, it is in fact our responsibility to care for and protect the animals that we share this planet with.

With time and modernisation, some of the animals drawn in the pages of Tiger Tales have disappeared from Singapore. Others are endangered.  Environmental groups and champions of biodiversity are working hard to protect them, and we hope to do our part by raising the awareness of the wildlife that still remain on our island. Read more about them in the final section of the book titled “Wild at Heart”, which celebrates some of the creatures that roam our island, as well as on this blog.

While some poetic licence was taken in their telling, all of the stories featured in Tiger Tales are inspired by documented historical events, from Sang Nila Utama’s encounter with a mysterious beast that led to the founding of Singapore, to the island’s infestation of pesky rats in the 1820s. Alongside the main stories, there are also many details in the book that point to yet more stories of other creatures that share this island with us.

We will be sharing some of these on this blog, along with some fun Tiger Tales-inspired craft, so come back here often!

Tiger Tales: Almost True Stories from Old Singapore is available for sale at major bookstores in Singapore, including Books Ahoy, Books Kinokuniya, The Fullerton Shop at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Garden Shops at Botanic Gardens, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, Museum Shops at the National Museum and Asian Civilisation Museum, and Woods in the Books.

It is also available online at Books Kinokuniya, Closetful of Books, Epigram Bookshop, Natventure Books, Owl Readers Club and Woods in the Books.

The post Tiger Tales: Almost True Animal Stories from Old Singapore appeared first on Pepperdog Press.