Category: Author - Oyez!Books Store

Children's Book Week 2016 - All About Emila Yusof

24/5/2016

Emila Yusof is a popular author, illustrator and blogger. She blogs at emilayusof.com. Her first picture book, My Mother’s Garden has been published in English, Malay, Chinese and German, in both print, digital and animation formats. Other books by Emila include the bestselling Legendary Princesses of Malaysia, and colouring for adults series, Colourart by Emila Yusof. She has written and illustrated a series of eight craft books for children.

1. What is your favourite food?

Nasi lemak, tosai and claypot chicken rice.

Emila Yusof, children's book author and illustrator

Emila Yusof

2. Why do you think children should read?

Children should read because it enriches vocabulary and imagination!

3. Draw or doodle an image of yourself doing something you enjoy.

Emila Yusof, children's book author and illustrator

4. What is your favourite story and why?

J’attends Mamy. I fell in love with this book when I saw the cover at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2014. Bought it right away. It was in French and thanks to online free translation, I managed to understand the story. The story is beautiful and poetic. A little girl’s granny leaves the house but she was told that her granny would be home soon. Waiting for granny to return, the little girl spends her time outdoors talking to the trees, ladybug, dragonfly and many more. One day, her father explains that her granny was dead, that she was not coming back. The girl eventually understands that a new phase of life begins; life without Granny. I personally love the illustrations which were done in pencil where some elements were tinted red. The illustrations really complement the story and there was a moment, or two, that I broke into tears.

Lil Guardian Alphabet by Emila Yusof, published by Oyez!Books

Z is for Zinnia - Lil Guardian Alphabet by Emila Yusof

My Father's Farm - children's picture book by Emila Yusof, published by Oyez!Books

My Father's Farm by Emila Yusof

5. Tell us something about yourself that no one knows.

I am afraid of cockroaches! And all in the creepy-crawly category.

Emila Yusof will conduct an Activity session - Draw and Colour Beautiful Princesses and Brave Princes - on Wednesday, 1 June during Children's Book Week 2016 at the Concourse, Bangsar Village II.

Mark your calendars now and come meet Emila for some drawing and colouring fun.

Legendary Princesses of Malaysia by Raman, illustrated by Emila Yusof, published by Oyez!Books

Legendary Princesses of Malaysia by Raman, illustrated by Emila Yusof

Children's Book Week 2016 - Up Close with Heidi Shamsuddin

21/5/2016

Heidi Shamsuddin worked as a lawyer in UK and ran a cafe in Malaysia in a previous life. She won the first prize of the Eye Level Children’s Literature Competition (Regional level) with her short story “Johan the Bee Hunter” in 2012. She began writing The Door Under the Stairs chapter book series in 2013. Heidi loves traveling, hiking, taking pictures, cooking and meeting people. She lives in Selangor with her husband, three kids and two cats.

1. What makes you laugh?

Silly situations in books and movies, funny words like 'iron' and 'picnic', and our kitten Atticus who likes to leap all over the place like a rabbit.

Heidi Shamsuddin, children's book author

Heidi Shamsuddin

2. Why do you like children's books?

Children's books have the best, most outrageously funny stories and characters.

The Mystery of the Missing National Anthem - chapter book by Heidi Shamsuddin, illustrated by Lim Lay Koon

Book 1 of The Door Under the Stairs series

The Case of The Talented Trio - chapter book by Heidi Shamsuddin, illustrated by Lim Lay Koon

Book 2 of The Door Under the Stairs series

The Case of The Football Champion - chapter book by Heidi Shamsuddin, illustrated by Lim Lay Koon

Book 3 of The Door Under the Stairs series

3. What is your favourite food?

Durian. No! I'm joking! have lots of favourite foods, but at the moment I am crazy about Mango Sticky Rice.

4. Draw or doodle a self portrait.

Sure, but I have to warn you that I'm not a great drawer of things.

Self doodle - Heidi Shamsuddin, children's book author

Self portrait of Heidi!

5. What inspires you?

What inspires me? Everything - family, friends, people who annoy me, places I've travelled to, things I've read and random conversations.

Heidi Shamsuddin will be conducting a Storytime session at the upcoming Children's Book Week on Wednesday, 1 June at the Concourse, Bangsar Village II.

Mark your calendars and don't miss the exciting time travel tales from Heidi's The Door Under the Stairs chapter book series!

Heidi Shamsuddin, children's book author

Heidi in action!

Children's Book Week 2016 - Get Inspired with Nor Azhar Ishak

19/5/2016

Nor Azhar Ishak is a science museum educator and award-winning picture book writer/illustrator who is passionate about children’s books. He has won the consolation prize in the DBP Picture Book Award 2013, and the YGL-Oyez! Picture Book Award. His favourite pastimes include painting in batik and acrylics and sharing stories whilst his favourite people are children!

Nor Azhar Ishak, children's book author and illustrator

Nor Azhar Ishak

1. What inspires you?

As far as I can remember, I have always loved looking at pictures and making one. My father loves art and my mother is the creative one. My sisters helped shape my interest in children’s books. But as time went by, I fell in love with children’s picture book. They look simple yet there is a great deal of thought and effort that goes into making one. We need more picture books which children enjoy, get inspired with, are heartfelt and also thought provoking. I am inspired to create more of such. There are so many children books that I find inspiring but Dr. Seuss books often touch me deeply.

Under the Sea - children's picture book by Nor Azhar Ishak, published by Oyez!Books

Batik illustration from Under the Sea by Nor Azhar Ishak

2. What is your favourite story and why?

Some of my favourite children’s books are the ones written by Enid Blyton especially the Faraway Tree stories. I also love reading folk stories from Malaysia and around the world. Some of my favourite books include the Cerita Cerita Rakyat collections which my sisters often borrowed from the National Library Malaysia back when it was located at Wisma Sachdev. There were also books on similar stories published by Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka which I kept (and read!) until today. What attracted me most about these stories are the richness of what is beyond our known little world and how exciting the mind is when opened up to infinite possibilities!

3. Draw or doodle your own self portrait.

Nor Azhar Ishak, children's book author and illustrator

Self portait by Azhar!

Nor Azhar Ishak, children's book author and illustrator

The real Azhar at work.

4. What country would you like to visit and why?

I am fortunate to have been able to visit a number of countries so I do not have any in particular at the moment. However, I would love to take some time to explore more of what Malaysia has got to offer!

5. Why do you think children should read?

My favourite author-illustrator, Eric Carle once said that picture books are an introduction to literature for the very young reader. I hope to be able to encourage children to see how wonderful it is to be surrounded and touched by books. Books are rich in many ways and reading them will inspire children, encourage them to think creatively and critically and perhaps offer companionship during difficult times.

Nor Azhar Ishak is conducting two Storytime sessions - Under the Sea, and two Craft sessions - Create Your Own Accordian Book at Children's Book Week 2016 on Monday, 30th May and Tuesday 31st May at the Concourse, Bangsar Village II.

Don't miss out on this fun and exciting event!

Nor Azhar Ishak in storytelling mode at The Great Book Adventure event last year.

Children's Book Week 2016 - Getting to Know Peter Worthington

18/5/2016

Peter Worthington was a global partner of a consulting firm until his retirement in 2006. He has spent 30 years in Asia and first arrived in Johore Bahru, Malaysia in 1963 as a Lieutenant in the British Army. He worked in Hong Kong from 1983-1990 and spent 10 years in Indonesia with his young family before moving to Singapore. He currently calls Malaysia his home. A prolific writer, he has also written a three-book series of space adventures, a series of stories on the environment and a series of picture books for young children.

Peter Worthington, children's book author, published by Oyez!Books

Peter Worthington

1. What is the best day of your life?

I don’t know, it’s just great to be alive!

2. Why do you like writing children’s books?

Well, they are fun to write. You can let your imagination run wild. You are not constrained by facts. For instance, I have written a series about a young stegosaurus (dinosaur) and a young elephant who meet in the forbidden forest when they are hiding from T-Rex. The dinosaurs died out 60 million years before the first elephant appeared on earth. But that doesn't matter to a six year old.

Buster's Walkabout - Early Readers by Peter Worthington, illustrated by Nur Azmi Mokhtar, published by Oyez!Books

Buster's Walkabout - Early Readers by Peter Worthington, illustrated by Nur Azmi Mokhtar

3. What are your top 3 tips on writing stories for children?

You can dream up an idea or see something that sparks an idea and then just let you imagination run wild. Let your characters take you where they want to go. This is what I do and in the end I often have enough material for more than one book which is great because children love series. They love spending their time with their favourite characters. With this in mind I develop my characters and engage them in more and more adventures. But there is one important thing to remember. Children are very observant and they need their characters to be realistic and consistent. As you develop your series your characters will change as you grow to know them better. It is very important, therefore, that at the end of writing your series you go back through the earlier books to make sure your characters are realistic in a child’s mind.

4. Tell us something about yourself that no one knows.

The Case of the Billion Dollar Threat - Llewellyn the Ghost chapter book series by Peter Worthington, published by Oyez!Books

Book 1 of Llewellyn the Ghost chapter book series by Peter Worthington

The Case of RR International - Llewellyn the Ghost chapter book series by Peter Worthington, published by Oyez!Books

Book 2 of Llewellyn the Ghost chapter book series by Peter Worthington

I love ghost stories. I have loved them ever since I was a child growing up in a draughty old house in London. I was sure a friendly boy ghost visited my bedroom at night. Probably my imagination but that’s where Llewellyn, the boy ghost comes from combined with an old ruined castle I know in Wales. Llewellyn is a series of tales of how a 700 year old boy ghost teams up with an English boy and a very modern American girl as they set out to save the world from evil men who will stop at nothing until they rule the world.

5. What do you do when you are not writing children's books?

Life is great when I have a new idea for a children’s book and I can let my thoughts rip. But you can’t write all the time and I enjoy reading historical novels and scientific facts about rare animals and creatures that have long since disappeared like dinosaurs.

Peter Worthington will be conducting two Storytime sessions at the upcoming Children's Book Week 2016 on Sunday, 29th May and Monday, 30th May at the Concourse, Bangsar Village II.

Admission is FREE for Storytime sessions - bring the kids for some storytelling fun!

Children's Book Week 2016 - Sixty Seconds with Evi Shelvia

14/5/2016

Evi Shelvia is a popular illustrator of a number of children’s picture books. Her books have been published in Malaysia, Indonesia and USA. Her illustrations are loved for their detail, bright and cheerful colours with perfect rendition of expressions complemented by Evi’s own brand of humour. Her books include I'm Sorry, Frog Loses His Memory, The Castle Library, The Wild Treehouse of Borneo, The Tremendous Trio, Negaraku, Pewarna Langit, and The Gift of the Ladybug.

1. What are your 3 tips on illustrating for children?

Find the good story, sketch, and enjoy!

Evi Shelvia

I'm Sorry - children's picture book by Evi Shelvia

I'm Sorry by Evi Shelvia

2. What makes you laugh?

Fun chat with friends and family.

3. Who is your favourite author/ illustrator and why?

I like the simple creative ideas of Oliver Jeffers and Emily Gravett, meticulous sketches of Shaun Tan, intriguing illustrations of Mattias Adolfsson, Jill Barklem for gorgeous details, Lat for bringing culture smoothly into comics.

4. Why do you like children’s books?

I love reading the pictures on children's books.

5. Draw or doodle of yourself doing something you enjoy.

OK. Here I am having tea with 2 characters I made, The Turtle and The Silly Monkey.

Evi Shelvia illustration

Evi Shelvia will be conducting an Activity session - Draw and Colour Your Favourite Animals at the upcoming Children's Book Week 2016 on Monday, 30th May at the Concourse, Bangsar Village II.

Don't miss this chance to meet Evi for an enjoyable afternoon of drawing and colouring!

Group Book Launch - New Titles for January 2016

28/1/2016

Approximately 40 people attended the Oyez!Books group book launch held on 27th January at our favourite bookstore, Silverfish, on the second floor of Bangsar Vilage II. The press was supportive and we welcomed reporters and cameramen from Berita Harian and The Star.

Oyez!Books New Books Launch January 2016

Oyez!Books Chairman, Mr Peter Duke introduced the new books for January 2016:

Menagerie - fun with the strange names that groups of animals are called in English, written and illustrated by Lim Lay Koon.
The Case of the Football Champion, by Heidi Shamsuddin, the third in her series about three children who use a secret door to go back in time to sort out mysteries. The black and white illustrations are by Lim Lay Koon.
Three colouring books by Susanna Goho-Quek, Underwater World, Teddy Bear Tales and Happy Days that will be attractive to all ages.

Menagerie - Fun with Animal Groups, children's picture book by Lim Lay Koon, published by Oyez!Books

The Case of the Football Champion, chapter book by Heidi Shamsuddin from The Door Under the Stairs series, illustrated by Lim Lay Koon, published by Oyez!Books

Underwater World Colouring Book by Susanna Goho-Quek, published by Oyez!Books

Happy Days Colouring Book by Susanna Goho-Quek, published by Oyez!Books

Teddy Bear Tales Colouring Book by Susanna Goho-Quek, published by Oyez!Books

Two picture books about an owl family by Mohd Khairul Azman Ismail, Where is Owly? and My Owl Family Tree. This book won the second prize in the YGL-Oyez! Picture Book Competition, 2015.
Two books by Emila Yusof; the first, a colouring book based on her very popular Legendary Princesses of Malaysia and the second Fleeting Moments, her own illustrated Haiku poems.

Where is Owly? children's picture book by Mohd Khairul Azman Ismail, published by Oyez!Books

Fleeting Moments, Illustrated Haiku Poems by Emila Yusof, published by Oyez!Books

My Owl Family Tree - children's picture book by Mohd Khairul Azman Ismail, published by Oyez!Boos

Legendary Princesses of Malaysia Colouring Book by Emila Yusof, published by Oyez!Books

Three books by Yusof Gajah consisting of two small books for the very young, My Red Pencil and My Haircut and a big book edition of The Real Elephant. The original book was published in Malay by Dewan Bahasa and won the 1996 Noma Concours Grand Prize in Japan. Oyez Books published the English version which proved to be very popular. This is the first ever big picture book by Oyez aimed at teachers, storytellers, mums and dads who sit down and read to two or three children at a time. A young woman in the audience who used to be a teacher commeneted that it is an deal size for use by kindergarten teachers.
Finally, we have Health, Wealth and Happiness illustrated by Chooi Keong. This is an accordion book with illustrations of auspicious symbols in the Chinese culture and a brief explanation with the name of the items in Chinese script.

The Real Elephant - Noma Concours Grand Prize winner children's picture book by Yusof Gajah published by Oyez!Books

My Haircut - children's picture book by Yusof Gajah published by Oyez!Books

My Red Pencil - children's picture book by Yusof Gajah published by Oyez!Books

Three of the books were in preview format, meaning they have not gone into mass production. We will be having more preview sessions in the future where we will invite the press and our buyers. The preview sessions will help us obtain feedback from the audience and to decide on the print run.

"In a rapidly developing market, such as children’s books in Malaysia, Oyez books cannot stand still. We have to keep pushing the boundaries," said Mr Duke.

Oyez!Books New Books Launch January 2016 - Heidi Shamsuddin

Heidi Shamsuddin introducing her new book

Oyez!Books New Books Launch January 2016-Susanna Goho-Quek

Susanna Goho-Quek in action

Oyez!Books New Books Launch January 2016- Yusof Gajah

Yusof Gajah with the award winning The Real Elephant

Oyez!Books New Books Launch January 2016

Oyez! authors from left to right - Yusof Gajah, Emila Yusof, Lim Lay Koon, Heidi Shamsuddin, Susanna Goho-Quek, Mohd Khairul Azman Ismail

We thank and congratulate our authors for their wonderful work and encourage them to keep on excelling and to aim for world class work. Oyez!Books will continue to support them and aims to bring their books to the international stage.

Featured Author : Hayati Hanif

8/11/2015

Hayati Hanif is the author of The Castle Library, illustrated by Evi Shelvia. The Castle Library is the first book she has written in English. She has had eight other children books written in the Malay Language that were published by PTS Media Group. These include, Cef Pastri Junior, Anis Si Ratu Payung, Geng Sahabat Haiwan, Kali Pertama ke Klinik Gigi and others.

Just a little inside info: The original title of The Castle Library was Princess Lily's Wish. Hayati was inspired to write about a little princess who discovered the joy of reading because Hayati herself loves to read. This is also her first picture book and she did some reading and research to help her write.

Hayati Hanif and Evi Shelvia, author and illustrator of The Castle Library, children's picture book published by Oyez!Books

Evi Shelvia and Hayati Hanif

The key message Hayati wanted to convey in her book was that when we read, we can travel everywhere in our imagination; there are no limits. Hayati was delighted when she was informed that Evi Shelvia will be illustrating her book. In fact, they are a perfect match.

The Castle Library - children's picture book by Hayati Hanif, illustrated by Evi Shelvia

Hayati is a graduate in Electronics- Computer & Information Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). She is a full-time homemaker and writes on a freelance basis. She lives with her husband and two young and lively boys in Selangor.

You may find out more about Hayati here:

Official website: www.hayatihanif.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hayatihanif85

Evi's World of Little Friends

31/10/2015

Evi Shelvia has illustrated a number of wonderful picture books, two of which are published by Oyez!Books. They are The Tremendous Trio, written by Quek Sue Yian and The Castle Library, written by Hayati Hanif, the second prize winner for picture book category at the recent Children's Book Award Festival Sastera Kanak-Kanak 2015. Evi's illustration for the Castle Library was used as a poster of the Children's Book Week with Silverfish Bookstore in June this year, giving the theme Reading is Magical. This is apt for Evi's illustrations evoke a world of dreams and magic where anything can happen. Her attention to detail makes the world she has created real to us and like Alice, we follow her happily into it.

Evi Shelvia

The Tremendous Trio, children's story book by Quek Sue Yian, illustrated by Evi Shelvia, published by Oyez!Books

Illustration by Evi from The Tremendous Trio

Children's Book Week poster with illustration by Evi Shelvia from The Castle Library

Illustration by Evi Shelvia used for poster of Children's Book Week in collaboration with Silverfish Books

Evi's next big adventure is to write and illustrate her own books and she has planned a series called Little Friends. The first book is completed and judging by that first book, we are really excited. Here's the cover and a page inside - we hope you are excited too. Publication date is planned for 9th November 2015.

I'm Sorry, children's picture book from Little Friends series by Evi Shelvia, to be pubished by Oyez!Books

Cover of I'm Sorry, first book in the upcoming Little Friends series by Evi Shelvia

I'm Sorry, children's picture book from Little Friends series by Evi Shelvia, to be pubished by Oyez!Books

Illustration from I'm Sorry, from upcoming Little Friends new series by Evi Shelvia

A Love for Children and Art

30/10/2015

Susanna Goho-Quek is a writer, illustrator, artist, and an art curator. Growing up in a large family, she particularly enjoys drawing children at play and up to all kinds of mischief. She was able to combine her love of the opera, children and her art in a lovely book, Fun at the Opera, published by Oyez!Books. Reading the book, one cannot miss the hustle and bustle of lively, wide-eyed and curious children, whether they are washing the car or just playing in a field.

Susanna Goho-Quek, writer, illustrator, artist and art curator

Susanna Goho-Quek

Washing the Car - from Fun at the Opera, children's picture book by Susanna Goho-Quek, published by Oyez!Books

Fun At the Opera by Susanna Goho-Quek

Playing in the Field - from Fun at the Opera, children's picture book by Susanna Goho-Quek, published by Oyez!Books

Fun At the Opera by Susanna Goho-Quek

Poster by Susanna Goho-Quek for Asian Festival of Childen's Content (AFCC) Singapore

A lovely poster Susanna did for the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) in Singapore and which we have on a wall in our bookshop

Coming soon, Susanna is completing a book full of her drawings. We promise you there will be lots of children. You can use the book for colouring, for doodling, for inspiration or for a giggle as you become a child again in Susanna's fun world. And if you like, we can organise a colouring class for adults (children allowed) at our bookshop with Susanna.

Illustration for new colouring book by Susanna Goho-Quek, to be published by Oyez!Books

Illustration for new colouring book by Susanna Goho-Quek, to be published by Oyez!Books

Sneak peak at Susanna's new book!

Switzerland Calls

27/10/2015

Early November, Yusof Gajah and his wife, Zakiah, will be off to Basel, Switzerland for two weeks. Yusof has been invited by the wonderful Swiss publisher, Baobab Books who published the German edition of Yusof's Where is My Red Ball? first published by Oyez!Books. The German edition, called Wer hat den roten ball? is printed on environmentally friendly materials that are safe for very young children who love books so much they often try to eat them.

From the Swiss press:
»Elefanten sind groß, grau und haben Stoßzähne. Oder auch nicht. (...) Jeder von ihnen sieht aus, als könnte er sofort loslaufen und spannende Abenteuer erleben, gefährliche Situationen meistern, ganz besondere Dinge tun. Dafür sind die da. Sie locken in ihrer Pracht sich ganz andere Geschichten auszudenken, ganz eigene Fantasien zu entwickeln.« schreibt Andrea Wanner in Titel kulturmagazin.

Wer hat den roten Ball?, German edition of children's picture book Where is My Red Ball? published by Baobab Books

German edition of "Where is My Red Ball?" by Yusof Gajah, published by Baobab Books

Yusof Gajah, Malaysian artist, children's book author and illustrator

Yusof Gajah having fun in the snow