Son is Fann Wong's harshest critic, from her new kids' books to her online ad

Her husband, actor Christopher Lee, loves them; their seven-year-old son Zed has his reservations.

Actress Fann Wong, 51, is laughing heartily as she recalls her loved ones' reactions when they first read her new bilingual children's picture books.

Two titles that she wrote and illustrated - Awesome, The Loud Little Boy and Planet Virus - were launched in Taiwan in February.

"Oh, the illustrations are very cute. Better than your last book," her 50-year-old husband said, referring to her semi-autobiographical comic book Girl, Illustrated in 2004.

To which Wong responded, in mock anger: "Excuse me, they're different, okay?"

It has been 16 years since she put on her author-cum-illustrator's hat when Taiwanese publisher Sharp Point Media Group came knocking with a four-book deal in 2020.

Zed, however, is her harshest critic.

"When he first flipped through Planet Virus, he went, 'It doesn't make sense. (The drawings of) your viruses have hands'," she says.

"And he insisted that I should have named one of the characters Influenza instead of simply calling it 'the blue virus'."

She explained to him that it is a picture book and as the author and illustrator, she had given free rein to her imagination, but this did not sit well with her son, who is a science buff.

Thankfully, he enjoyed the stories, she adds with a sigh of relief. She began on the book project, targeted at kids aged four to seven, during the circuit breaker.

Deciding on the storylines was the most challenging part as she had many ideas. She wanted to entertain young readers and advocate good values and habits without being preachy, she says.Like her previous book, she used watercolour pencils to do the illustrations. Wong, who has no formal training in art, finds the medium fun and easy to control.

It took her almost a year to complete the two books. Awesome, The Loud Little Boy centres on a kid who is obnoxiously loud when he speaks.

Planet Virus is a tale of hygiene habits and highlights the importance of good practices in preventing illness.

When she was writing and doodling at home, her son would often ask: "Is that me in the book?"

Wong assured him: "No, no, that's not you. You're a good boy."

He won't eat her famous cakes

She tells The Straits Times with pride that her only son has generally been an easy child.

"But he is a very picky eater, even now when he is in Primary 2," she says with exasperation.

For example, he would not eat anything sweet, including fruit, and takes only a bite of her famous cakes "when he is in a good mood". The actress launched her online pastry business, Fanntasy Bakes, in October 2021.

Eating out with him can be a headache as there are few options that would suit his taste preferences.

He likes dining at home and sticks to his favourites cooked by their helper, such as fried egg white ("No yolk, okay?") and pan-seared lamb or pork chop ("No marinade or sauce, just a pinch of salt.").

Oh, and he loves having chia seed baguette for breakfast, which Wong happily bakes for him daily.

She goes all out to support his interests

While Zed is not adventurous with food, he has a big appetite for nature.

Wong's next two picture books, which are "works in progress", are inspired by her son's pet topics: insects and marine creatures.

From rearing saltwater fish to keeping ants, the doting mum goes all out to support her son's interests even though the mere mention of "carpenter ants, Asian marauder ants… ants, ants, ants" still creeps her out.

Zed is always on the lookout for bugs and enjoys going on intertidal walks to explore creatures in tide pools.

He also cannot wait for his next snorkelling trip. Wong recently took him to Lazarus Island and Pulau Hantu Besar, but the underwater visibility was poor.

"I'd love to take him on a snorkelling holiday in the Maldives. Like everyone else, I miss travelling, but I'm not ready to take the step yet. I think it's better to play it safe and wait a little longer," she says, referring to pandemic travel risks.

Asked what she would be doing with her son on March 29 when several Covid-19 restrictions would be lifted, the protective mother says: "We will cut down on outings and stay home for a while since people might have their masks off outdoors. I'll monitor the situation and see how it goes."

He doesn't want her to be on screen

Wong says her son is equally protective of her, but can be possessive at times. He has never watched her drama serials because "he doesn't want me to be somebody else or somewhere else".

Once he caught a trailer of Mediacorp Channel 8's revenge drama Doppelganger (2018), which stars both his parents and has a scene of someone throwing egg at Wong's character.

Zed was so upset that it took his mother an hour to pacify him and explain that it was not real.

"He knows that we are actors, but he doesn't fully understand our jobs."

One might think that he was too young, at age three, back then. But it happened again this month.

A commercial by online retail platform Shopee, featuring Wong, popped up when he was watching YouTube videos.

"He got really annoyed. I think he is jealous that I was jumping with joy and dancing with a little boy in one scene," she says.

"He insisted, 'Mum, can you please delete that?' He has no concept of advertisements or that I can't control them."

Fortunately, he is cool with seeing Lee on television.

"Sometimes, we'd tell him, 'Come and watch, your dad is in this show.' He would run to his dad and question, 'Is Mum in it too?' When he hears 'no', he's fine and would continue watching if he is in the mood ," she says, laughing again.

Lee is away in Taiwan where he is filming the movie Workers. It is adapted from the 2020 miniseries of the same title, which won him the Best Actor honour at the 2021 Golden Bell Awards.

The actor makes multiple video calls daily to connect with his son and wife.

She looks forward to having him home, so they can do the school runs together.

Wong does not regret scaling back on her acting projects to raise Zed.

She says: "I like being there for my son and to be punctual, so he can see me when he leaves the school gate."

• Awesome, The Loud Little Boy and Planet Virus, in traditional Chinese and English, retail for $29.40 (hardcover) each at Books Kinokuniya.