A shout out on behalf of Zarah Gagatiga, President of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY):

Please help the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB) in propagating the good news on the 1st National Children’s Book Awards. Deadline for nominations is  April 15, 2010.
General rules and guidelines can be found here and the nomination form here.

The creation of the National Children’s Book Award will name not just one top book or the usual tiered roster of winners, but a “Best Reads List” of a maximum of 10 titles year after year. Winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony in July.  For more information on this award and how it came to be read this article by Neni Sta. Romana Cruz

ETA: The  announcement will coincide with the National Children’s Book Day week. We will announce the Salanga (Writer) and Alcala (Illustrator) Winners on July 20. On July 24, we’ll have the Best Reads to celebrate.

Our current issue of PaperTigers focuses on the Philippines and recently,while searching for literature events taking place there, I came across this news on OMF Literature’s website:

Sandosenang Sapatos (A Dozen Pairs of Shoes), a Palanca award-winning story that has reaped numerous accolades here and abroad and has touched the hearts of many, is now a musical staged by the Valenzuela City Center for Performing Arts (VCCPA) in cooperation with the Valenzuela City Government and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

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Written by Luis Gatmaitan, M.D., Sandosenang Sapatos tells the story of Karina and Susie. They are the daughters of the town’s best shoemaker, but only Karina gets to wear the beautiful shoes their father makes. Susie can never wear shoes because she was born without feet—will her father, her family love her less? Susie is surprised by the discovery of her father’s incomparable love for her.  Sandosenang Sapatos celebrates the love and acceptance of a family in the face of adversity.

Artistic director Roeder Camañag says, “This is a story of hope grounded in reality. It’s something that will help fight the cynicism we see around us nowadays. It’s not a fairy tale; it’s fresh and relevant.”

Author Luis Gatmaitan is happy with the results. “It is a great honor for an author like me to see the story I’ve created come to life on stage, from the pages of a book to a musical.”

Click here to see photos from the play.

Luis  Gatmaitan, M.D. has authored and published more than 30 storybooks for children tackling relevant issues such as disability, senility, bereavement, coping with cancer, childhood diseases, and children’s rights in his stories. Inducted into the Palanca Hall of Fame in 2005, he has also been a recipient of the Catholic Mass Media Awards and the PBBY-Salanga Writers Prize.  In addition he  has chaired PBBY and KUTING. In 2005 IBBY named Sandosenang Sapatos an Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities.

Narrated by a five-year-old child, Papa’s House, Mama’s House by Jean Lee C. Patindol and illustrated by Mark Salvatus (Adarna House, 2004) delves into the pros and cons of dividing the week between the homes of separated parents – and ensuring that, despite there being different rules and routines in each, both are also the happy, welcoming homes of the children.

The narrative is beautifully attuned to a child’s perspective and the striking red background to the highly dynamic illustrations increases the story’s impact, especially as the depictions of the narrator and her two sisters are endearingly pixie-like. Because the only clue to the narrator’s identity is through these abstract illustrations, in which she is in fact a girl, this story can feel relevant to both girls and boys. Having said that, though, looking at the publisher’s page about the book, it refers to the narrator as “he”… and, this being a bilingual book, it may be that this ambiguity is only in the English and not in the Filipino, which I don’t read…

When the inevitable question comes up: why can’t her parents live together in the same house, both Mama and Papa give imaginative and comprehensible answers – and at the end, they come together to share in their child’s sixth-birthday celebrations.

This is a beautifully reassuring book, both for children trying to make sense of their parents’ separation; and for children who may be trying to understand what is happening in their friends’ lives – and not forgetting parents who are striving to provide security in the aftermath of such a situation. In an end-note, author Jean Lee C. Patindol explains how the story came into being following some insensitive remarks from neigbours to her five-year-old-son after her own separation: and how she struggled “to find a way to explain to my children that, even with our unusual family setup, they are still very much loved.” Through this story she has certainly succeeded in doing so, not only for her own children but universally.

Papa’s House, Mama’s House was the 2004 Grand Winner of both the PBBY Salanga Prize (for writers) and the PBBY Alcala Prize (for illustrators). You can read a full review here, as part of our current focus on the Philippines. And I must just point you towards the latest post on Jean a.k.a. Jeanette’s blog, in which she relates a conversation with her nine-year-old daughter…