Five well-known children’s book authors and illustrators on their favorite locally-written children’s book of all time
Cyan Abad-Jugo (Writer, “Salingkit”):
The children’s book of all time can only be Nick Joaquin’s Red and Green Series of Pop Stories For Groovy Kids. It’s a wonderful, satisfying and entertaining mix of Philippine folklore, fantasy, sci-fi, gothic horror, wit and whimsy. The illustrations add to the experience of the story. If I had to choose only one from the series, it would have to be “The Adventures of Culas-Culasito,” which are terrific, terrifying and true. There is something alienating about the world of TV, something brutish about ignorance, and something sad about a hero’s self-sacrifice.
Ani Almario (Vice president, Adarna House)
My favorite Filipino children’s book of all time is “Sundalong Patpat”-not because it’s written by my father (Virgilio Almario), but because it’s melancholic and hopeful at the same time. For me, it’s truly timeless.
Christine Bellen (Writer, “Ang Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang ni Severino Reyes”): Aside from “Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang,” one of my all-time favorite is Augie Rivera’s “Alamat ng Ampalaya.” The story can encourage children to taste this bitter vegetable because of its lyrically written narrative and its playful, repetitive, and intelligently innovative and modern legend flavor.
Robert Magnuson (Writer/artist, “The Great Duck and Crocodile Race”):
Though my father was a terrific reading advocate, we did not have a lot of traditional format children’s books by Filipino authors when I was growing up. What I did enjoy at a very young age were the Juan Tamad stories, as well as the folk tales and lower house myths that appeared in our grade school reading textbooks. One textbook had this four-line poem about fireflies written in Filipino which I still remember today. These stories gave me an early feel of Philippine literary culture.
May Tobias-Papa (Writer, “A Day in the Market”):
My favorite Philippine children’s book of all time is now out of print. It’s “Madyik Banig: Maagang Matulog at Managinip” (Adarna House, 1994). It’s a quiet, gentle book by the Philippine children’s book industry’s Dream Team. National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario wrote the dreamy, poetic text which was rendered in amazing watercolor by Joanne de Leon.