Book Museums and Storytelling Festivals: Creating Interactive Book Experiences for Children
PanelAna Katrina Mamangun Sison, Glenda Ng, Omkwan Wechayachai, Phanidchanok Damnoentam, Roger Jenkins | Moderator: Wong Swee Yean
Festival Pass| Festival Talk Pass
Organisers of museums and children’s storytelling festivals share their successes and challenges in building interactive story experiences for children: looking at how spaces can tell stories and how to create a space to tell stories. How can books be transformed into experiences? How can we nurture passion for reading beyond the page? How can everyday spaces become places to encounter our favourite tales?
worldbuildingstorytellingmultiplatform adaptationcreativitycraft and design
Ana Katrina Mamangun Sison (Philippines)
Kei Mamangun-Sison is a theatre educator and assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where she earned her MA in Theatre Arts and Performance Praxis. Her creative project, Haraya Storytelling Festival, champions imagination, play, and Filipino narratives in children’s development. With over a decade of experience locally and internationally, including five years teaching in Singapore, she has directed original productions at major venues and led multinational collaborations. In the Philippines, she teaches performing arts and founded Drama Lab PH, creating training and original works for young audiences. Kei integrates wellness, creativity, and empowerment into her theatre practice.
Glenda Ng (Singapore)
Glenda is a passionate arts producer specialising in programmes for children and access. A strong advocate for amplifying children’s voices and advancing inclusivity, she established the Children’s Panel to co-curate the annual Children’s Season Signature Programmes line-up, and led accessibility initiatives in partnership with educators, healthcare professionals and social service agencies, resulting in resources such as social stories, sensory bags and inclusive programmes. She enjoys collaborating with artists to bring fresh ideas into diverse spaces. Glenda is currently a Programmes Manager at the Children’s Museum Singapore, and was previously a Programmer with the Children and Youth cluster at the Esplanade.
Omkwan Wechayachai (Thailand)
Omkwan is the founder/director of CREAM Bangkok, a creative literacy centre dedicated to inspiring a love of reading and storytelling in children. With a background in Literature and Children’s Book Illustration, and strong experience as a kindergarten teacher, she is passionate about creating meaningful, engaging literacy experiences for young minds. In 2019, she founded CREAM as a space where children can embrace their creativity and express themselves through various forms of storytelling. Her work nurtures curiosity and imagination, encouraging children to explore and share their stories—making literacy a joyful and exciting adventure of their lives.
Phanidchanok Damnoentam (Thailand)
Phanidchanok “NidNok” Damnoentam is a writer, curator, and creative producer dedicated to nurturing a culture of reading and learning among children and families. Her work spans exhibitions, festivals, and storytelling projects that connect books with everyday life. She develops programmes and curates experiences that inspire empathy, imagination, and reflection through picture books and shared reading. As host of The Rookie Mom podcast and moderator of public dialogues on childhood, education, and parenting, she bridges creative practice with social impact—building communities that grow together through stories.
Roger Jenkins (Singapore)
Roger Jenkins is a Singaporean who has been a professional storyteller since 1998. He is a popular performer/trainer in schools, libraries and at community events with his spontaneous, comedic and interactive style of telling.He has been associated with access and working with people with disability since founding Hi Theatre in 1984. He regularly audio-describes Wild Rice productions making theatre accessible to the vision-impaired, and has performed at the Enabling Village with PWDs on several occasions. He won the 1995 Singapore Literature Prize with From the Belly of the Carp and has self-published two collections of traditional stories with teachers/parents.
Wong Swee Yean (Singapore)
Wong Swee Yean is a professional storyteller with over 20 years of experience bringing the richness of Asian folktales to life across Singapore and the region. A four-term President of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) and Director of the 398.2 Storytelling Festival, she believes stories are bridges that connect generations, cultures, and hearts. She blends storytelling with playful elements such as paper crafts, music and movement to spark imagination and make traditional tales feel fresh and relevant.
Programme dates and times are subject to change.