Francisco Arcellana, illustrated by Hermes Alegre,
The Mats
Kane/Miller Book Publishers, 1999.

Ages 6+

This beautiful picture book was adapted for children in 1995 from a 1938 short story by the acclaimed short story writer and Philippine National Artist in Literature, Francisco Arcellana.

A multi-layered story about family traditions, childhood anticipation, and parental expectations is disguised in simple language and transforms, suddenly, into a story of remembrance and a lesson in honoring the dead.

Marcelina’s father, a government inspector of telegraph lines, often traveled on business, and his homecomings were always anticipated with excitement.  On this particular occasion, however, there was more excitement than usual.  Papa had sent a letter explaining that he had met a matweaver, “a real artist”, and that he had ordered a special mat for each member of the family.

The seven children think about the one special mat the family already has, the one their mother was given on her wedding day, that is only used on special occasions.  Whenever a family member is sick, their mother takes the beautiful mat with gold letters out of her trunk and lays the ill person upon it.  All the other children marvel at its beauty, and cannot wait to have special mats of their own.

Papa finally returns, and the mats are unfurled after dinner.  They are beautiful, each with the person’s name woven into it, along with a picture of something that symbolizes their personality.  There is a lyre on Marcelina’s mat because she is musical.  “You are not to use these mats until you go to the university,” Papa tells the children.

Then, as the family talks excitedly, Mama notices three mats still rolled in the bundle.

“Do you think I had forgotten them?” Papa asks.  “Do you think I could forget them?”  These mats were woven for the three sisters who had died as babies, their names included in the same way as the others’.

This is a wonderful book for introducing children to the writings of Arcellana and to the tradition and artistry of Philippine sleeping mats, as well as the importance of remembering the dead.  The brightly colored paintings, reminiscent of folk art but with an unparalleled lushness, pull the reader through the evocative language of memory, anticipation, tradition, and sorrow. Both haunting and heartwarming, The Mats will be appreciated by readers of any generation.

Abigail Sawyer
September 2009