Ratz the Rat never says no – no wonder then that he is so popular. His best friend is Elephant, who prefers doing nothing while Ratz the Rat is busy collecting food. Elephant offers his friend part of his house as a larder. Ratz the Rat accepts – good friends are always trustworthy. But when the big drought comes and the food supply runs out, their friendship is put to a tough test.

The author and illustrator

John Kilaka was born in the southwest of Tanzania in 1966. As a boy he was already very interested in painting: as a child he was doing sketches in the sand; when he started school he made funny drawings on the black board, which the other pupils enjoyed but which disturbed the teacher. At the age of twenty he moved to Dar es Salaam to study the art of tingatinga painting. Today John Kilaka is one of the most important representatives of tingatinga art.