The first book of the HIJAU series, The Lost Princess by Liza Shahida has been published and features an adorable girl illustrated by Nor Abdullah. As with all the books in the HIJAU series, children will be introduced to various animals and plants in the rainforest.

The five books in the HIJAU series will be released in stages. Each book in the series comes with supplementary materials including background information for parents and teachers, additional facts on the flora and fauna featured as well as activity sheets for children. 

The story in each book is located in different spots in Malaysia and highlights the flora and fauna found there. For example, The Lost Princess highlights the animals and plants found in Sabah.

All the books in the series use a dyslexic friendly font, OpenDyslexic, which is a special font developed and designed for people with dyslexia to make reading easier.

Liza has taken careful thought over each book and after reading all the books in the series, children will be introduced to a comprehensive list of the animals found in the rainforests of Malaysia.

It is the author's hope that the Hijau Series will
i. instill the love of nature amongst young children (3-8 years),
ii. open the minds of young children to a new world, and
iii. nurture the child’s logical thinking, social intelligence and empathy.

Oyez! is a regular participant at RIUH,  a monthly art, cultural, and community event at APW, Jalan Riong, Bangsar (next to NST) and this month we are thrilled to participate again. We will have a booth to display and sell Oyez! books (please come and visit!) and in addition, authors Rossiti Aishah Rashidi (Siti the Elephant and Pak Belang the Tiger) and Lim Lay Koon (Pip's Peculiar Problem) will be reading from their books in line with the theme, Safari in the City. Two friends of Oyez! will be also be reading from our Borneo Animal Series. Catch them at these times:

Saturday 21 April 2018
11.30-11.45am    Rossiti Aishah Rashidi reading Siti the Elephant and Pak Belang the Tiger
12.45-1.00           Najibah reading a book from the Borneo Animal Series.

Sunday 22 April 2018
11.30-11.45        Lim Lay Koon reading Pip's Peculiar Problem
12.45-1.00pm     Syafawani reading a book from the Borneo Animal Series.

The organiser of RIUH is also collecting book donations for Books on the Move, an initiative that promotes reading anywhere by dropping books at public places for people to pick up, read and pass along. Do remember to bring your spare books to share!

Oyez! Bookstore, the bookselling arm of Oyez! (Publishing) is pleased to add World Scientific books to their store. World Scientific is one of the leading scientific publishers in the world, and the largest international scientific publisher in the Asia-Pacific region.

Oyez! Bookstore started with the Young Scientists series by Nury Vitacchi which quickly went out of stock and is now restocked. Next, we added the inspirational SISU Girls series, Brave Beachley and Fearless Frosty, the story of two girls who went on to conquer the waves and mountains.

We have selected more World Scientific books on topics covering teaching and learning maths and science. Some of these books are for children while others are suitable for parents and teachers. We will be featuring these in the next few days. Watch out for them!

'Flowers' and 'Tea' do not seem to go together but the Chinese who love drinking tea and who are often inventive with their food, have produced tea that blooms into a flower as hot water is poured into it. Here's a picture from WIkipedia and a YouTube video clip from the movie Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola which shows the queen enjoying the flowering tea, a gift from the Emperor of China.

And finally, here are some illustrations from Emila Yusof's book, Grandma's Flowering Tea which will be published in early May 2018 by Oyez!Books. Emila was awarded the Little Hakka International Picture Book Competition Merit Award in 2017 for the illustrations in this book. The award was organised by the Shenzhen OCT Cultural Group and the Shenzhen Women's Federation under the auspices of the Shenzhen Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau.

Photo creadit:
Flowering Tea: By Georg Mittenecker - Photograph taken by Georg Mittenecker, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3337063

WhiteWave Inc, located in Seoul, South Korea will be featuring Jainal Amambing's Longhouse Days in their monthly magazine, Catholic Digest. The magazine features 'honest and heart-warming stories of ordinary people'.

According to the editor, Lee, the magazine has just started a 'Children's Story of the World' section to introduce 'various innocent and adorable stories around the world to our subscribers and let them go back to their childhood and recall happy memories.'

Lee was impressed by Jainal's illustrations and touched by the story and plans to translate and feature Longhouse Days in the July issue.

Jainal Amambing has won numerous awards for his illustrations, both locally and internationally including the Noma Concour, Tokyo and Nami Concour, South Korea. His picture book, The Magic Buffalo, has been translated into German. Other books by Jainall, published by Oyez!books include The Wonderful Sparrow and The Proud Butterfly. Based in Kudat, Sabah, Jainal continues to paint and runs a farm with his family.

The husband and wife team, Razisatul Asyifah and Mohd, Khairul, have written and illustrated a picture book based on an Iranian folktale. The story of a small mouse who goes looking for a friend as mighty as himself has a surprising ending. Publication of the book is scheduled for mid May 2018.

Oyez! has previously published two picture books that were written and illustrated by Khairul: Where is Owly and My Owl Family Tree.

Lim Lay Har and Lim Lay Koon have produced another picture book with a Malaysian setting. Their previous picture books  include Atuk's Amazing Sarong and Bunyi-bunyi dari Dapur Nenek (which won a DBP prize and was subsequently published by DBP).

Their latest picture book is no less a pleasure.- a beautiful book in both text and illustrations. A story of a boy having his first experience of fireflies and also one of a memorable time with his father. We expect this book will be a Malaysian children's picture book that will become a classic. Publication will be end of April 2018.

Oyez! authors, Basari Mat Yasit and Nor Azhar Ishak are at Nami Island together with a team from Malaysia. Malaysian artist, Yusof Gajah is on the jury panel of the Nami Concour.

Books by both Basari and Nor Azhar, published by Oyez! have won awards. Basari's Lelaki dari Sungai / Men from the River won a distinction list at Nami Island while Nor Azhar Ishak's Under the Sea had previously won two awards - the Children's Literature Festival, Kuala Lumpur and the Samsung Kids Time Award, Singapore. Both books are unique. Lelaki dari Sungai / Men from the River is a bilingual book and a retelling of a Sarawak folktale. The strong, flat colour illustrations were inspired by the 'pua kumbu' a traditional woven fabric from Sarawak. Nor Azhar's Under the Sea is illustrated using the batik technique and then digitally transferred to the page.

Basari with Lelaki dari Sungai / Men from the River at Nami Island, with Fred Minn, of Naminara.

When I was in secondary school, I had trouble understanding physics concepts (and so did most of the girls in my class in our all-girl school) and the physics master said, girls always have difficulty grasping physics compared to boys. I looked at him and wondered if that were true. I was a straight A student but physics flummoxed me. Anyway, the next test topic was on astronomy and space travel so I went to the school library and read a variety of interesting books on that topic. Soon I was reading for pleasure and out of curiosity. Those books helped me to understand my school textbook better and when the test results came out, I had scored an A.

I tell this story because I believe any child can love and enjoy the sciences when they are presented in an interesting way. At Oyez!Books we look for books that children will love and enjoy while learning. And we are pleased to recommend The Young Scientists Series of 12 Volumes from World Scientific Publishing, an international publishing company based in Singapore.

Each volume features a key science area and five associated scientists / mathematicians / inventors / discoverers from different countries. Written in a fast-paced story and conversational format by famed author and columnist, Nury Vitacchi, these books are suitable for children in primary schools. Here's the complete list:

Volume 1: Secrets in the Rocks — Five Astounding Tales of People Solving Mysteries Beneath Our Feet:
The Girl Who Found a Flying Dragon (Mary Anning);
The BoyWho Went Searching for Giants (Georges Cuvier);
Love, Rocks and the First Dinosaur (Mary Morland);
The Bug Boy Solves a Huge Mystery (Louis Agassiz);
The Woman Who Saw Deep into the Earth (Inge Lehman);
 
Volume 2: Fabulous Physics — Five Amazing Stories of People Who Solved Nature’s Puzzles:
The Man Who Saw a Living Skeleton (Wilhelm Rontgen);
The Servant Girl Who Beat Einstein (Marie Curie);
The Boy Who Climbed to the Top (Abdus Salam);
The Quiet Queen of Physics (Wu Chien-Shiung);
The Boy Who Secretly Read the Books He Was Binding (Michael Faraday);
 
Volume 3: Magical Mathematics — Five Astonishing Stories of People Who Did Miracles with Numbers:
The Girl, the Pearl and the Not-So-Sad Story (Lilavati);
The Boy with No Birthday (Carl Gauss);
The Math Girl Who Stunned the World (Philippa Garrett);
The Penniless Youth Who Amazed the Professors (Srinivasa Ramanujan);
The Good Witch Who Made an Amazing Decision (Maria Agnesi);
 
Volume 4: Breakers of Barriers — Five Stunning Stories of People Demolishing Walls to Make History:
The Unloved Teenager Who Found Her Place (Ada Byron Lovelace);
The Scientist and the Secret in the Ancient Book (Tu Youyou);
The Impossibly Young Doctors (Balamurali Ambati and Sho Timothy Yano);
The Motherless Child Who Solved His Father’s Problem (Blaise Pascal); The Girl Torn Between Two Careers (Rachel Carson);
 
Volume 5: Scientific Pioneers — Five Incredible Tales of People Who Helped Develop the Scientific Method:
The Woman Who Hid the Moon (Aglaonike);
The Man Who Stayed in His House for Ten Years (Al-Haytham);
The Boy Who Was Curious All His Life (Shen Kuo);
The Grumpy Nun Who Was Forbidden to Sing (Hildegard of Bingen);
The Boy Who Sorted Out the Living World (Carl Linneaus);
 
Volume 6: The Amazing Quantum — Five Awesome Stories of People Who Made a Revolution in Physics:
The Boy Who Didn’t Listen to His Teacher (Max Planck);
How a Compass Inspired a Genius (Albert Einstein);
The Boy Secretly Reading a Book Behind His School Desk (Wolfgang Pauli);
The Student Whose Schools Kept Closing (T D Lee);
The Boy Who Had a Dispute with His Father (John von Neumann);
 
Volume 7: The Science of Humanity — Five Fascinating Stories of People Who Helped Us Understand Ourselves:
The Boy Who Found Different Ways of Thinking (Jean Piaget);
The Woman Who Taught Us Love and Remembrance (Artemisia);
The Mother with Six Boys and Six Girls (Lillian Gilbreth);
The Girl Born in the Shadow of the Moon God (Enheduanna);
The Explorer Girl Who Travelled Far Without Leaving Home (Alice Hamilton);
 
Volume 8: Women of Discovery — FiveSuper Stories of Fab Females  Who Made Scientific History:
The Girl Who Found Her Sisters on the Other Side of the World (Harriet Noyes);
The First Woman Doctor in History (Merit Ptah);
The Girl Who Had to Hide Behind a Man’s Name (Sophie Germain);
The Murderous Princess Who Found Salvation (Anna of Byzantium);
The Bug Hunter Who Dreamed of the Jungle (Maria Merian);
 
Volume 9: The Inventor’s Spark — Five Marvelous Stories of People Who Helped Shape the Modern World:
The Boy Who Combined a Bike and a Train to Invent the Car (Karl Benz);
The Failed Doctor Who Sparked an Idea (John Walker);
The Woman to Thank If You Like Chocolate (Mary the Alchemist);
The Man in the Burning House (Garrett Morgan);
The Boy Who Lost His Chance but Got It Back (Gregorio Zara);
 
Volume 10: Advances in Alchemy — Five Startling Stories of Chemistry and Biology:
The Strange Adventures of Doctor Poison (F F Runge);
The Young Woman Who Was Forgotten (Rosalind Franklin);
The Girl in the Chamber of Corpses (Alessandra Giliani);
The Farm Girl Who Made Your Milk Safe (Alice Evans);
A Tasty Treat Found by Accident (Frank Epperson);
 
Volume 11: The Call of the Stars — Five Wonderful Stories of People Looking to the Heavens:
The Boy Who Decoded the Dance of the Stars (Jeremiah Horrocks);
The Poet–Scientist Who Detected an Earthquake (Zhang Heng);
The Farm Boy Who Saw the Galaxies Flying Away (Vesto Slipher);
The Girl Who Named the Stars in the Sky (Annie Jump Cannon);
The Boy Who Understood Einstein (Michio Kaku);
 
Volume 12: The Mystery of Nature’s Laws — Five Striking Stories of People Investigating the Deepest Puzzles of Reality:
The Girl at the Back of the Boys-Only Classroom (Amalie Emmy Noether);
The True Story of the Philosopher’s Stone (Jabir Ibn Hayyan);
The Bullied Boy Who Fought Back (Isaac Newton);
The Teenager Who Saw the Light (Galileo Galilei);
What We Learn from the Strange Tale of the Human Computer (Shakuntala Devi).

And if you think these books are too difficult, don't worry. Give them to your children and they will explain it all to you.
 
In Malaysia, this set of books that will open up a world of knowledge is selling for RM99.90 and Oyez! is offering The Young Scientists Series for RM90 while stocks last.
 
Give your child the gift of knowledge and they will also be inspired to know that all the great scientists were at one time, children just like them.

FREE! Teachers and parents may appreciate the free downloadable and editable worksheets with activities to guide children in reading comprehension as well as enhance their reading with fun art activities. We will send you the link to the worksheets when your order is processed.

Author: Nury Vittachi
Nury Vittachi is the author of more than 40 books, several of which have been published in many languages around the world. He particularly enjoys bringing science and history to life for readers young and old. He is chairman of the Asia Pacific Translators & Writers, Inc., Asia’s biggest association of writers. A lecturer at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design, he teaches students how to write stories and how to create content for novels and movies.

Illustrator: Step Cheung
Step C. studied Illustration at School of Visual Arts in NYC and Character Animation at Gobelins School in Paris. Her illustrations are published in The Standard newspaper weekly and she has illustrated for McDonald's TV commercials, Cyberport, HK magazine and different types of media. She loves to use variety of media to express her imagination of the world.