S&S Children's Book

Sereni&Shentel Written by Sereni Linggi & Shentel Lee Illustrations by Jessica Wong Edited by Judy Ling Publisher The Playground Borneo Sdn Bhd All rights reserved Telephone +6082-577635 Email info@sereniandshentel.com Visit our website at www.sereniandshentel.com This edition is published by The Playground Borneo Sdn Bhd Lot 122&123, R.H. Plaza, Jalan Lapangan Terbang Baru, 93350 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Pusat Kebangsaan ISBN – Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia ISBN 978-967-10990 Any copy of this book, issued by the publisher as a hardback, is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated, without the publisher's prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition including these words being imposed on a subsequent purchaser.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage or retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

BY

SERENI LINGGI & SHEN-TEL LEE ILLUSTRATED BY

PLASTERDOLL

There once was a girl called Sereni Who lived in a place called Cat City.

She worked in a mall And looked like a doll And loved to dress up for A dance or a ball.

Far away in Sydney, Australia Lived a smiling girl named Shentel

Who worked with fonts, Shapes and colour And simply loved to eat butter!

One day Shentel came to Cat City And was invited to dinner with Sereni.

They shared a meal out of a f ryer So spicy that their mouths caught on FIRE!

They were the only two At that party Who couldn’t eat the Home-cooked curry Instead they drank all The chilled water And became f riends Talking about Net-a-porter.

Living in tiny Cat City The girls went to many a party From ball to soiree to high tea

To doing arts and crafts, Making creations with ease.

While playing cards as They sometimes do Sereni got a message From out of the blue.

Lady GaGa was coming Their way, to perform a Concert across the bay And they had not ONE ticket, But TWO!

The girls

SCREAMED in unison

They jumped up and down in GLEE And both of them quickly agreed To make the prettiest hair bows The world would ever see.

They skipped, twirled and hopped All the way to the ribbon shop For they had to choose super materials, To make their headbands POP!

They bought ribbons, Threads and bright blings And asked themselves Serious things, like ”We have to stand out f rom The crowd. It’s easy to say, But just HOW?“

Then Shentel went “AH HA! I know!

“We will make some GIGANTIC bows!”

So together they started to sew

And with needle and thread and ribbons In black, they created a headband they Named ”KUCHING CAT!“

And off to the concert they went.

With their high heels and bows They were dressed to impress!

The gathering crowd yelled out

”WOW!“

The photographers shouted

”SMILE NOW!“

The next day they were excited to see That their picture was in the newspaper.

OMG!

Then news of the headbands Quickly spread To girls who love wearing Pretty things on their head.

”We want headbands!“ They all said.

So the girls kept on sewing, No time for bed.

Suddenly light bulbs appeared And the girls had a brilliant idea.

Quickly they made Headbands galore And together they Created an online store

Where girls around The world could shop For Borneo-made Headbands to make Their outfits POP!

The website caught the eye you see Of an editor of a magazine.

She found the headbands on facebook And clicked to take a closer look.

She loved the styles and colours too. ”AH HA made in Borneo, That’s something new!“

An email she did write To see if the girls would take a f light To Kuala Lumpur just for the night.

The girls wrote back ”That would be DYNAMITE!“

The girls were super Excited you see For the interview came With a photoshoot

YIPPEE!

To hair and make-up they did scurry The photoshoot went by in a hurry.

They were overwhelmed and Their hearts were a-f lutter.

Shentel wept excitedly �I need some butter.“

But before they knew it The interview was done.

Sereni shrieked ”That was SOOO much fun!“

The day the Interview came out Sereni & Shentel could Not help but

SHOUT! They were in a

MAGAZINE! They had to pinch Themselves, Was this a dream?

From ONE

To TWO

To THREE

To FOUR

The magazines began to call.

URGE

NT

R DE NS R O O B B RI

RV TE IN EST QU

LL CA IZ L

EW VI NS O TI

Which made the orders start to pour The girls didn’t think they could Make them all.

They decided they needed help to expand So they trained a group of artisans To make headbands for all of their fans.

Next on their list was to Create a look book To help fans choose their Headband looks.

To wear while they Worked, played, Danced or cooked.

The look book Had their fans

HOOKED!

The look book got them On a TV show Where they told the host It all started with a bow.

The TV show was such a sensation That it was shown throughout The whole nation.

Soon the stores began to call They wanted headbands They wanted them ALL!

AUSTRALIA

SINGAPORE

HONG KONG

UNITED KINGDOM

USA

FRANCE

What did the girls do next, You ask? They set themselves Some secret tasks.

So place your headband in your hair.

It is made with love, Hand-stitched with care!

And know that the girls Are working on all things pretty.

In their magical workshop In sunny Cat City.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Best friends Sereni Linggi and Shen-tel Lee live in Kuching, Malaysia, where Sereni, a Business Development and Mall Manager, was born and Shen-tel, an Australian-born-and-bred graphic designer, moved to, upon marrying her high school sweetheart.

Sereni and Shen-tel, without intention, found themselves in the spotlight and in demand for their handmade headbands, after creating blinged-out headbands to wear to a Lady Gaga concert in 2009. Spurred on by the demand, the girls created a small collection of headbands named after themselves, "Sereni & Shentel", and began selling them online.

In less than two years, they have shot to fame with their brand. They have appeared in magazine publications all around Asia and Australia, blogs all over the world, the Malaysian Breakfast TV show Ntv7 and US hit series “Gossip Girl”. The girls have also collaborated with Lancôme and Miss Universe Malaysia.

Today, they are both still pursuing their intended professions, as well as their accidental one.

This book was written to tell little girls around the world the story of how two best friends living in a little city in Borneo have managed to turn their dream into reality through friendship, laughter, hard work, determination and a little headband magic. www.sereniandshentel.com

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR Jessica Wong is a self-taught fashion illustrator based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jessica has always loved fashion, largely brought about by her early exposure to fashion through her mum, who was a seamstress. When she learnt about fashion illustration, it was not hard to realise that this was something she wanted to pursue.

The Plasterdoll character is the brainchild of Jessica. With a trademark “plaster” on her forehead, a set of doll-eyes, luxurious locks and meticulously illustrated outfits, Plasterdoll immediately charmed fashion and art lovers throughout the world wide web. The international appeal of Plasterdoll instantly attracted fans from all over the world. In 2011, Jessica added two new Plasterdoll characters, Sereni and Shentel, in collaboration with their autobiographical children's book. www.plasterdoll.com

THE true story of two best friends living in Borneo who turnED their dream into reality through friendship, laughter, hard work, and a little headband magic.