Kota Buku is the organiser of the annual Kuala Lumpur Trade and Copyright fair and is also the lead Malaysian agency for the Bologna International Book Fair, the China Children's Book Fair in Shanghai and the Beijing Book Fair. In addition, the company also participates in other international fairs and conferences.  ©Emila Yusof "There is definite synergy between Oyez!Books and Kota Buku," says Sayed Munawar, CEO of Kota Buku. "Their books are of high quality and of international standard. We are proud to be their primary agent. This is in line with our mission to promote Malaysian books internationally," he adds. About Oyez!Books, www.oyezbookstore.com Oyez!Books was founded in 2008 as an imprint of Integra Majujaya and is now an imprint of Integra Creative Media Sdn Bhd. The imprint focuses on children's books by Malaysian writers and illustrators although it also publishes translations of international works. Oyez! Books & Gifts is a division of the imprint that aims to promote existing intellectual properties for licensing purposes. Contact: Linda Tan, email: [email protected] About Perbadanan Kota Buku (Kota Buku) www.kotabuku.my
The Perbadanan Kota Buku, a government-linked corporation, was established in line with the aspiration of the National Book Policy. Kota Buku aims to act as a nucleus for all book-related activities and to work with stakeholders in the book industry in order to enhance the book industry in Malaysia. This includes capacity building, content trading, organising book-related activities and being a technology enabler. Contact: Hasri Hasan, email: [email protected]
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Timun Emas is an Indonesian folktale of a woman who longed for a child. Her wish was granted by a giant but there was a price. When the child has grown, the giant will come for her. That seemed like so far away and her desire so great that the woman agreed without further ado. The giant gave the woman some cucumber seeds with instructions that she should plant and take good care of them. The woman did as she was told and one day, one of the golden cucumbers ripened and inside was a beautiful baby girl. The woman named her child Timun Emas.  This folktale is similar to the story of Thumbelina from Denmark where a little child was born from the flower of barley corn. In another way, it is also similar to a German folktale, Rumpelstiltskin where a goblin helped a woman but the price was her firstborn. How these stories come about, we can only guess. Folktales certainly reflect our shared humanity and much have been written about them and their meanings and significance. As an example, this story has been interpreted to mean the empowerment of women for in all cases, the women found a way to overcome a bad situation. We are happy to present Evi Shelvia's retelling of this Indonesian folktale and she has added a delightful creature, the Kuda Kepang. Evi's gorgeous illustrations make this story all the more delightful and the book will be one to keep and treasure.   The publication date for this book is 30 December 2016 and will be made available for online purchase at www.oyezbookstore.com.
Have you ever sat in a train and looked through the windows and wondered where everyone is heading? Who are your fellow travellers and what are the places you have passed? And then you arrived at your destination almost with regret for the journey was certainly part of the pleasure.  Well, Lucia Hiratsuka thought about this too and wrote and illustrated a book, Na janela do trem which translated from the original Portuguese language into English is, Through The Windows of a Train.  Of Japanese descent, Lucia was born and raised in Brazil. She grew up on her father's farm which was called Asahi meaning 'morning sun' in Japanese. The farm was located in Duartina in the countryside of Sao Paulo. She first traveled by train with her grandmother and since then has always enjoyed traveling by train and looking through the windows. Here are a few illustrations from the book.     This story is not finished yet as Oyez!Books is bringing this lovely book to Malaysian children in Bahasa Malaysia. In November 2015, Oyez!Books rights director, Lei, went to the Shanghai International Children's Bookfair. There she met Antonio Erivan, rights director of Cortez Editora. Antonio showed her many books including Na janelo do trem. At the same time, Oyez!books was looking for suitable books to translate and we have also received information from the Brazilian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur that we may apply for a translation grant from the Fundação Biblioteca Nacional which is the National Library of Brazil. After much deliberation, (on the shortlist were beautiful illustrated books on the animals of the Amazon) we selected Na janelo do trem because we love Lucia's simple illustrations and because the story is one that a Malaysian child can relate to. In October this year, we were informed that our application for a translation grant was successful. It was enough to cover the translation and editing cost (which was from Protuguese to English to Bahasa Malaysia as we couldn't find anyone suitable who could do a direct translation from Portuguese to Bahasa Malaysia.) We are now in the process of getting the book ready for publication early next year. Can't wait! Stay tuned for further update!
We want to add a special thank you to our authors and illustrators who have continued to produce excellent new material for us to publish. I am referring to Emila Yusof, Evi Shelvia, Heidi Shamsuddin, Lay Koon Lim, Rossiti Aishah Rashidi, Chooi Ling Keiong, Yusof Gajah, Nor Azhar Ishak, Mohd Khairul Azman Ismail. A special thank you to you all!
2017 will bring new challenges as foreign books are being increasingly dumped in Malaysia at little more than the cost price to the publishers. However, at Oyez!Books we have a special niche in that all our books are quality publications, mostly in English, and mostly written and illustrated by Malaysians. I believe we are the only publisher to specialise in this field and many of those who come across our books express surprise and pleasure in finding such books. However, having said that we are constantly exploring the foreign markets to see if we can find picture books to publish that will bring pleasure to Malaysian children. Some of these will be available next year. On a personal note we will be welcoming Emila Yusof who will be joining us in January as our Creative Development Director. Among her other roles she will be launching our new initiative ‘Books & Gifts’. Books make the best gifts - they last a long time and can be 'used' and treasured over and over again. They can also be passed down. They reflect the values and thoughtfulness of the giver in selecting just the right books that will bring pleasure to the receiver. Finally, I wish everyone Happy Christmas and Happy New Year!
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