Since 2004, Janus Education Services, together with its publishing arm Experiences and Experiments, has been scouring the country for the next generation of writers with the aim of helping them actually publish their very own book.
The YAS, which budded from an innovative-thinking English Head of Department from Anderson Primary School who approached veteran author-editor and Janus Education Services founder Catherine Khoo, was a novel idea that motivated students to write a book good enough to be published.
Ms Khoo says the Young Authors Scheme was created to bring out the author in each child, and does not only inspire him to write, but also sparks his confidence and patience. With the vision of becoming the premier creative education portal and the leading publisher of media created by and for 8 to 18 year olds in Singapore, the Young Author Scheme intends to transcend from creative writing to creative educational platforms that lead to social responsibility advocacies and projects.
This app allows you to access stories written by under 18s for under 18s, with insights and storylines based on seven different narrative genres:
•Science Fiction
•Magic and Fantasy
•Heartwarmers
•Asian Tales
•Mystery and Adventure
•Animal Tales
•Ghost and Ghouls
Readers get transported to mystical worlds and amazing environments, all the while learning to enhance the following cognitive skills:
•Vocabulary building
•Narrative cognition
•Critical content analysis
•Composition writing
•Thought-process enhancement
These stories are also currently featured in a variety of formats, including print (under the Young Reader Club Magazine), audio (under the YAS Audio Books series) and digital (under similar apps for iPhone and Android OS). To know more about YAS and Janus Education services, log on to www.januseducation.sg now!
EXPERIENCES & EXPERIMENTS: Janus’ Twin Sister
Experiences and Experiments is Singapore’s first boutique publisher of books exclusively for under-18s, by under under-18s. Launched in 2005, the Young Author Club is Experiences and Experiments Books’ first imprint.
It stresses Catherine’s philosophy of “breaking the boundaries of education.” Penned and illustrated by preteens, the stories feature a variety of genres including angels and aliens, ghouls and ghosts, heart warmers, science fiction, magic and fantasy and the like, surprising readers with their own brand of charm and innocence, as seen from the eyes of the child.
In 2007, Experiences and Experiments took an extra step forward and created audio books anchored on previous books published under the Young Author Scheme.