Secrets of Singapore

"Danger Dan and Gadget Girl have really outsmarted me this time. There are secrets of Singapore that I didn’t even know about! Secrets of Singapore is a comprehensive account of everything Singaporean—from history to politics to transport, education and food—and has fascinating details, interesting commentaries and humorous illustrations. It is a book that should be in every Singaporean kid’s collection."
—Dr Cheah Yin Mee, partner and consultant, Learning Ventures, council member, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Singapore

"I wish Danger Dan and Gadget Girl were around to help me with History back when I was in school. Secrets of Singapore will be a boon for those mugging for Social Studies, as it presents facts about the social and cultural history of Singapore in an interesting way, with memorable drawings and illustrations by James Tan."
—Lim Cheng Tju, Country Editor for the International Journal of Comic Art

"An easy-to-read, interesting book that should appeal to any young reader who wants to find out more about Singapore’s history, and which contains many fun facts that are not commonly known."
—Lee Siong Boon, history teacher

"Surprisingly fun and good."
—Nadine Bailey, teacher librarian 

"Secrets of Singapore is one for the history buffs, both young and old... It's written in a breezy and accessible style, with lots of graphics, including cheesy puns of the sort I used to ROFL at when I was a child."
—Sassy Mama

Monica Lim and Lesley-Anne Tan are a mother-and-daughter writing team. Monica Lim is the mother and Lesley-Anne Tan is the daughter, although sometimes their roles seem reversed. Lesley-Anne eats her veggies and occasionally has to force Monica to do the same. She’s weird that way. (“No, I’m not!” says Lesley-Anne). Monica runs her own writing business, has a blog on education and published a book in October 2013 entitled The Good, the Bad and the PSLE. Lesley-Anne is still in school so she mostly writes essays and papers, which isn’t quite as fun.

Secrets of Singapore is their third writing project together, after Danger Dan and Gadget Girl and the first Danger Dan series. The idea for the character Danny came about from their experience living with a highly imaginative little boy obsessed with superheroes and comics. If Lesley-Anne could have a super power, she would choose the ability to stop time, so that she can finish studying for her exams and writing books in no time at all. Monica’s preferred super power is mind control, so that she can make Lesley-Anne stop dreaming about time freezes and get back to work.

James Tan is an illustrator from Singapore. He likes to create comics and draw stuff, especially animals. He also enjoys doing traditional illustrations using ink and watercolor as there is something more tactile to these media, just like holding a book in your hand. He likes to draw things from his experiences as well as books he read. He enjoys travelling and drawing the new sights and sounds he sees around the world.