Jeanette C. Patindol, illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III,
Tight Times
Adarna House, 2007 (in English and Tagalog).

Ages 4-8

A perfect read for these times of economic downturn, Tight Times is the gentle story of a family of rats learning to adapt to life during tight times.

“We used to go to mall every Saturday or Sunday. Now, we stay at home instead and draw pictures, or play the guitar, or dance with Mamang, or garden with Papang.”

Discovering how to be happy in spite of their financial struggles and how to make the most of what they still have, the little creatures learn - and show readers in the process - how sometimes less really is more.

Published in English and Tagalog in the Philippines (a country where the majority of the population is not unfamiliar with tight times), this story will be both a timely and a timeless read to English readers anywhere in the world.

Multi award-winning illustrator Sergio Bumatay III’s charcoal and colored pencil illustrations are so warm, and add so much soul and depth to the text, that one is left with the feeling of having been given a gift. They turn a great book into a marvelous one.

When the ending spread comes and we see Papang working again, fixing things “right from our very own shop,” and a string of costumers approaching his door, we can’t help but smile. Tight Times, like good stories, don’t last forever.

Tight Times is the kind of book one knows will eventually become a classic and be treasured by generations to come.

Aline Pereira
October 2009