Friday, September 30, 2011

Project Pass-a-book



The Big Os

The project aims
·         To instill a love for reading among Filipino children
·         To build a community of children who can and will read
·         To make the Filipino children appreciate our children's literature
·         To provide marginalized Filipino children opportunities to read authentic Philippine children's literature


The Mission (I'm) Possible

Project Pass-a-book is  a collective effort of literacy advocates, non-government organizations (NGOs) and private institutions to provide children in Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental opportunities to read and enjoy locally-published children's books.

The people backing this project strongly believe that reading, as an important life skill, should be developed and nurtured inside and outside the school.  The proponents of this project believe in the power of reading to tickle one's imagination, to quench a person's thirst for knowledge and to transform people's lives. Thus, creating an opportunity to read is a must.

The Challenge

Project Pass-a-book aims to distribute new picture story/books to school-aged children in a far-flung place where buying a book (and reading) is a luxury. The picture storybooks would be coming from the different individual or group donors. Each new picture storybook to be donated must

a.       be covered with clear plastic to ensure its durability,
b.      have the donor's message/dedication to the child who will receive the book to make the experience more personal . The message could be in Cebuano, Filipino, and English (with Filipino translation).

Other ways to make the gift-giving more personal are highly-encouraged (e.g. attaching a picture).

The Setting
After 14 years, I'm gonna see again this mountain.
The heart of Cabalawan.

Project Pass-a-book aims to distribute new picture story/books to school-aged children in Cabalawan, Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental on the third week of December 2011.  Cabalawan is a small barrio that is almost nine kilometres away from the main road/high-way. It houses an elementary school that has 4 teachers and a number of students (no sufficient data as of today). Magsaysay is a fourth class municipality. (Keep posted for the pictures of the place and school profile written by one of the school officials.)

The Mission (I'm) Possible II

The project would also like to tap volunteers from the beneficiary barangay, preferably the teachers   to facilitate "literary circle" activities. A literary circle is an unorthodox way (for lack of a better term) of grouping the children for book talks and other enrichment activities. Activities include discussion about the book (e.g. plot, illustration, genre, etc.), enrichment activities (arts and crafts, music). The literary circle could be formed based on the reader-child's interest, reading ability, instructional needs and the book's literary genre. Thus, generic literary circle activities (e.g. lesson plans/ideas, graphic organizers) would also be given to the teachers during the short project orientation. (You may also share your 'photocopy-able' teacher resources/materials.

The said volunteers will also smooth the progress of the ‘passing of the book’ from one child to another. The project aims to introduce to the children the wealth of children’s literature that this country has, in doing so, the books that they have should be shared to other children in the literary circle. It’s the volunteer-teacher’s job to monitor the rotation of the books in the literature circle. This explains the need for the books to be plastic-covered.


The Possible FAQs

1.       What kind of books should I give?
a.       New picture books/picture storybooks in English with a Filipino or Cebuano translation published in the Philippines  (Know your local children's literature.)
                                       i.            Adarna House books
                                     ii.            OMF Lit-Hiyas books
                                    iii.            Anvilbooks
                                   iv.            LG&M-Vibalbooks
                                     v.            Lamparabooks
                                   vi.            Tahananbooks
                                  vii.            Others
2.       Where are the 'drop-off' points?
a.       School of Saint LaSalle of QC in North Olympus Subdivision, Zabarte Road, Novaliches. Look for T. Jerson or leave it/them to the guard on duty.
b.      TBA. (If you want to volunteer your office/place as a drop-off point, send an email or SMS to brojersrc@gmail.com / 0906-204-5044)
3.       Is there a way for me to know that the book has really reached its new owner?
a.       All activities will be documented through photos and some written documents. A blog post in www.misterserendipity.blogspot.com will serve as the "State of the Donation Address' or SODA before 2011 ends.
4.       What if I'm 'tinatamad' na 'mag-plastic cover?
a.       Think again if you really want to donate. If the answer is still a yes, get the book, plastic, scissors and tape. This activity doesn't happen every day, so your katamaran (e.g. going to the bookstore, writing a message) is not a valid excuse.
5.       What if I want to share my old books?
a.       Sharing your old books is good but only new books are accepted. The children in Cabalawan are so used to receiving old textbooks from the Department of Education. I think they deserve new ones too.
6.       What if I want to share other stuff like bags and pencils?
a.       Great! Then we can have another outreach activity in April or May.
7.       What do I get from this?
a.       A reward from God (well, if you have the right motives)
b.      A hope for a better Philippines
c.       A million thank-yous from the children of Cabalawan


So what are you waiting for?

a.       Go to the bookstore. Share this very-demanding project to your friends. Make a pledge. Start saving  for that Php 70-book. Give because you have something to give.

b.      Shrug it off. Make excuses. Wallow in apathy.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Children’s Book Creators’ Forum at the MIBF

Wow! Another Children's Lit conference. Book enthusiasts like me, let's attend!



The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) is inviting all writers, illustrators, and children’s book enthusiasts to participate in Sulataktakan: Conversations on Children’s Literature. The forum will focus n what makes an award-winning children’s book, as well as work styles of known children’s book authors and illustrators. The event, which will be onSeptember 17, 2011, Saturday, from 2pm to 4pm, will be held at Meeting Room 3 of the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
Guest speakers are children’s book creators Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, Mailin Paterno, Jomike Tejido, Russell Molina, and Beth Parrocha-Doctolero. Tejido and Molina have authored books that won the 1st Philippine National Children’s Book Awards in 2010.
The forum will be followed by book signing, so attendees are encouraged to bring along books authored/illustrated by the guest speakers.
The participation fee for the forum is Php100. For inquiries, email pbby[at]adarna.com.ph, or call 352-67-65 loc 120 and look for Lance.


Children's Lit news from Adarna House's blog.


Se you there! 

32nd MIBF


Thanks Prime Trade for the publicity materials for our school.

Friends and online buddies, see you there!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Filipino Friday Week 4: On Filipiniana

In my previous post, I daydreamed of coercing my friends to tell us about their favorite locally-published books. I asked them to answer these questions:
A. What's your favorite book from written by a Filipino (textbooks are not allowed.hehe)? You know, that one book you never got tired of reading (over and over and over...) - or hearing. The one book you still remember vividly to this day.
B.Describe a character in the book that reminds you of someone you know.
C.To whom would you recommend this book? Why?
Thank heavens for there's one friend who took heed of my plea. Haha. But before I give you her answer, let me share with you my thoughts about this week's topic. 

 I guess I have established , in this blog, the fact that I am a children's lit fan. (Thank you T. Portia for giving me that make-or-break UNO. Look where it has brought me.) But one thing that I haven't really worked hard on is the task of giving you the impression that I am a children's lit patriot. Believe me.I know and love and take pride in our country's children's literature.

Proofs? Don't get me started. Visit my future book blog na lang.

Anyway, back to this meme's questions:

Do you read Filipino literature? If you do, tell us your favorite books by Filipino authors and name a few that you’d like to recommend to fellow readers? If you don’t read much Filipino lit, then tell us why.

Tuwing Sabado, written by Russel Molina and illustrated by Serj Bumatay is a staple read in all classes that I handle. I will never get tired of reading this heart-pinching/warming, tear-jerking  tale of fatherhood. And my pupils just love this book. (Random sharing: I was there when the author read the manuscript of this story, months before the book was launched.)


Pambihirang Buhok ni Raquel. This is one of my first children's lit reads. And it's the book that made me want for more Tito Dok books. (Fast fact: Tito Doc is the nickname of the author.) The illustrations are fantastic. They enriched the story. I love the spreads in which Raquel wore those totally out-of-this-world wigs. (Random sharing: I have an autographed copy of this one--both author and illustrator)


Unang Baboy sa Langit. Butsiki is the name if you're wondering who that lucky saintly pig is.. Very witty story. I first heard of this story in the radio show Wan Dey Isan Araw aired over 702 DZAS. Then I fell in love with the Rene Villanueva brainchild. I used it in our storytelling project and made a chant to accompany the telling. I just wish that a new edition of the book would come out (asap) because the illustrations are not that appealing. (Random sharing: I met Sir Rene in 2007 and whispered to him, while we were on stage, that I'm in love with his book. True story.)

There's a plethora of good Philippine children's literature out there. How I wish I am that linguistically-gifted to convince you to read these:

Ooops! I almost forgot to mention some YA fiction and general fiction that I've perused over the years.
  • Titser by Liwayway Arceo
  • Bob Ong books (which should be read in moderation)
  • Arnold Arre's Mythology Class and After Eden
Oh my! I haven't been reading Filipino novels lately! Wake up my dear old self.

And on that note, I give you my friend, Bb.CJ Aguila, Filipino professor and lover of Philippine literature. Here are her answers to the questions posted above.

A.Bilang guro sa panitikan, babalik-balikan ko ang KUWENTO NG MGA KWENTISTA! Para sa lahat ng henerasyon...hindi nagbabago ang mensahe... kuwentong may PUSO....





B. Isa sa karakter na narito ang batang si Fe na muling nagkaroon ng positibong pananaw sa buhay matapos mabatid ang mga pinagdadaan ng mga tao sa lipunan na mas pinagkaitan ng tadhana, ngunit kailanman ay hindi naging hadlang upang tumigil sa pangangarap. Minsan akong nagkaroon ng estudyante, na aking nakilala sa ikalawang taon ng aking pagtuturo (na kagayani Fe)....

C. Ang aklat na ito ay mairerekomenda ko sa lahat ng mga Pilipinong may pagmamahal sa Literatura... at mga taong nagnanais ding maging iinspirasyon sa iba.

Thank you so much CJ for sharing your thoughts on this week's meme. When you're done with your thesis about children's literature, you should, if not must, start blogging about Philippine Literature.