Tuesday 19 March 2024 15:34:04 PHT

Philippine Children's Books

IJsselstein, Tuesday, 18 June 2002 (updated: Monday, 4 June 2007)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

When you're raising your children outside the Philippines it is often difficult to give them some feeling of the Filipino culture. Even in the Philippines, it is sometimes difficult to find nice Filipino children books among the large number of American children books available in most shops. Here we have selected a number nice Filipino children books. Unfortunately, most of these are not available outside the Philippines, and even in the Philippines you'll need some luck to find them.

Antukin, Philippine Folk Songs and Lullabyes, selected by Felicidad A. Prudente, and illustrated by Joanne de León is a nice collection of folk songs from around the Philippines. The collections is arranged by region, and includes a number of lesser known tribal songs, from the Kalingga, well known Tagalog songs, such as Bahay Kubo, songs from the Visayas and Mindanao. All songs are accompanied by a single staff, so you can easily play the melody on a piano, and is profusely illustrated - an excellent full page color plate on every is facing each page. A real gem to have. Published by Tahanan Books for Young Readers, P.O. Box 9079, MCS Mailing Center, 1299 Makati City, ISBN 971-630-095-6, distributed by Bookmark.
The Carabao-Turtle Race, and Other Classic Philippine Animal Folk Tales as told by Sylvia Mendez Ventura and illustrated by Joanne de León, contains eight age-old animal tales, popular in the Philippines. All stories have been taken from Filipino Popular Tales, edited by Dean S. Fansler (The full text of this book is available on this site!), and have been extended and retold, such that they make excellent bed-time stories for children. The books are nicely illustrated with numerous black & white drawings. Published by Tahanan Books for Young Readers, Makati City, ISBN 971-630-024-7, distributed by Bookmark.
The Termite Queen, and Other Classic Philippine Earth Tales as told by Sylvia Mendez Ventura and illustrated by Joanne de León, contains eight old folk tales related to earth. Nicely illustrated in black & white. Published by Tahanan Books for Young Readers, Makati City, ISBN 971-630-084-0, distributed by Bookmark.
Why the Piña has a Hundred Eyes, and Other Classic Philippine Folk Tales About Fruits as told by Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz and illustrated by Felix Mago Miguel is a nicely illustrated book with eight stories retold from various sources. Winner of the National Book Award for Children's Literature. Published by Tahanan Books for Young Readers, Makati City, ISBN 971-630-026-3, distributed by Bookmark.
The Warrior Dance, and Other Classic Philippine Sky Tales as told by Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz and illustrated by Mark Juitiniani is another collection of eight stories, retold from various sources. Again, nicely illustrated with black & white drawings. Published by Tahanan Books for Young Readers, Makati City, ISBN 971-630-069-7, distributed by Bookmark.
Bahay Kubo illustrated by Hermés Alégré contains the well known Tagalog song, with each line on a page, with a very nice paintings in a naive art style to clarify the meaning. Published by Tahanan Books for Young Readers, Makati City, ISBN 971-630-008-5, distributed by Bookmark.

Continued...

Jeroen Hellingman

What readers think...

Alexandria Llamasares wrote:
Wednesday, 15 January 2014 18:12:26 PHT
I have been looking for copies of these books!!! These books have a huge place in my heart. Before Harry Potter and Niel Gaiman, these are my childhood. I loved the short stories in these books. And the illustrations are beautiful. Where can I possibly buy a copy of these books? I only borrowed from our school library back then.
Allon wrote:
Sunday, 15 December 2013 11:38:56 PHT
Wonderful illustrations - who is the artist?
Eder wrote:
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:01:31 PHT
Any suggestions on books for FIL-AM toddlers and where to get them in US? something about Philippine culture, language etc. thank you
Jun Antolin wrote:
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 02:16:00 PHT
A good source for Philippine Children's books is an online company called Reflections of Asia. Their website called filipinobooks.com has a large selection of books published in both english and tagalog.
Victoria wrote:
Wednesday, 10 June 2009 22:45:05 PHT
Reading books does not have to be boring for children if you introduce it early on and make it fun. My child is 2 1/2 and she plays with other toys but reading is her favorite activity of all. I attribute this to the fact that we started reading to her every night ever since she is a newborn. Now she'll ask us to read in the morning, before nap and bedtime, she'll even pick it up on her own! It helped her a lot with her language development and even rudimentary reading skills and she's now able to recognize many of the words. I also want to start introducing Tagalog to her so these books seem like an excellent suggestions. Thank you.

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