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Gajah, Yusof

Wer hat den roten Ball?

A picture book from Malaysia

Translated from English by Katharina Diestelmeier
© 2014 Baobab Books
20 pages, hardcover, 15 x 18 cm
Board book, printed with plant based ink on 100% recycled cardboard
CHF 16.80 / € 13,90 [D] / € 14,30 [A]
ISBN 978-3-905804-58-4
Ages 2 and up

Eight elephants, eight balls. But hang on, something seems to have got mixed up for this gang of colourful elephants. »That's not my ball!« the red elephant says indignantly. And he's right – the ball is blue. The blue elephant, in turn, is balancing a yellow ball on his trunk. One elephant is surprised, the next one dumbfounded, whilst a third elephant is not worried. In the end almost everything is back to normal – only the red ball is missing… Where could it be?
This is a book about colours, elephants and feelings – from Malaysia, the home of the Asian elephant and of the artist Yusof Gajah, who loves elephants more than anything else. As a child Yusof Gajah was rather afraid of the large animal, but later on the elephant became the central subject of his artistic endeavours. This is also reflected by his pen name: Gajah means elephant in Malaysian.

The author and illustrator

Yusof Gajah was born in Malaysia, grew up in Singapore and studied Art in Indonesia. He returned to Malaysia in 1975 and has lived and worked as a freelance artist and illustrator of children's books in Kuala Lumpur ever since .
The elephant, gajah in Malay, is a never-ending source of inspiration for Yusof. So it came as no surprise that Gajah became his pen name.
He has published many children's books and even created an «elephabet». He also tours internationally as a story-teller and puppeteer, inspiring children with his painting workshops too.
«You have to love children and love playing with them if you want to produce a good children's book. I had a happy childhood, and I dreamt of becoming an artist. Now this wish has come true. Now I want to dream some more and encourage people, and especially children, of course, to dream more and to come up with more ideas,» says Yusof Gajah about his work.
»Where Is My Ball?« is his first publication in German.
Original edition: »Where Is My Ball?«
Picture Book Art, Malaysia
© 2011 by Yusof Gajah