The Philasia branch of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators kicked off the new year with a speaker event featuring award-winning Filipino children’s book author and SCBWI member, Lara Saguisag.

The author of There’s a Duwende in My Brother’s Soup, Tonyo’s Wishes and Cat Eyes, and co-editor with April Yap of Nine Supernatural Stories, Laura Saguisag’s newest book, Children of Two Seasons: Poems for Young People, was published in December of 2007, after winning the 2006 Writing for Children Chapbook Series, a writing competition organized by the Writing Program of The New School University, in New York, known for its commitment to creative writing. The poems in the book, illustrated by emerging Filipino illustrator Hubert Fucio, describe the everyday adventures, thoughts and feelings of young children, as well as their take on simple things such as animal sounds, grandparents’ stories, etc.

Held on January 7th at Fullybooked, a bookstore in Makati City, Philippines, Lara’s talk focused on exploring notions of childhood and “Filipino-ness” in Filipino’s children’s literature. When I asked Lara why this topic, she responded:

I spent the past three years writing in New York City. I was very excited to be there, but it slowly dawned on me that my idea of childhood was very different from that of my American peers, and how our writing for children was greatly affected by our different notions. Many of my classmates often thought I was writing “too young” for my intended age group, so I came to realize that that was because the children I knew in the Philippines seemed to me much more “dependent” than their American counterparts.

It may seem very obvious to state that children in the U.S. are different from children in the Philippines. I do feel, however, that many children’s book writers tend to assume that there is a “universal” kind of childhood (childhood as a happy time, free of labor and worries, a time for children to be protected), when, largely, this is a conception of childhood that began among Western middle-class families.

Lara, who is a Presidential Fellow at Rutgers University in New Jersey, NY, where she is completing her PhD in Childhood Studies, began her lecture with a simple question: “Who is the child?” Audience members came up with a variety of words, ranging from the expected (innocent, curious) to the unexpected (a little mischievous monster). Zarah Gagatiga, a children’s librarian in the Philippines, who attended the event, told me:

“Lara challenged participants’ notions by reminding them that childhood’s meaning is contextual and that society, history, culture, the environment, demographics, etc play a great role in a child’s being and becoming… she also pointed out that the stages which Piaget and Chall identified in children’s cognitive development and reading development, respectively, were based on middle-class American and European children, and that to solely use them for identifying, writing and publishing stories for children is risky.”

The question that followed, “Who is the Filipino Child?,” encouraged audience members to take a more in-depth look at Filipino literature, and, according to Zarah, that was a very worthwhile exercise:

“Comments on traditional themes in Filipino literature and the way books portray children and childhood came about and, true enough, it became apparent that Filipino writers perceive the Filipino child as someone who must be protected, taken care of; which results in a literature that is close to “sanitized.” “And how could it be any different?”, Lara asked, pointing out that one of the reason why these notions of childhood are collectively magnified is that this is the only literature produced for them. Lara ended her talk speaking about the need to critique the body of work available to Filipino children and with a hopeful stance, that Filipino Children’s Literature has reached, if not a golden, an enlightened age.”

And the audience wasn’t the only one to go home with food for thought. Lara herself was faced with a new challenge:

“Overall, this event taught me that since I have spent so much time outside the Philippines, I tend to forget that Filipino authors have their own philosophy of writing for children. It is very easy for me to lambaste the children’s books produced in the Philippines because they seem “weak” by American standards, but why should I measure them according to the standards of the West in the first place? Why not view and measure them according to our own standards; why not base my judgments on our Filipino values, our children’s dreams, our style of literature? This is the challenge I currently face.”

Thanks to both Lara and Zarah for kindly sharing their thoughts and experiences about the event. For photos of this event and a wealth of information on children’s literature, visit Zarah’s blogs (one and two). Be sure to let her know that PaperTigers sent you!

Posted by: Corinne | This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 12:40 am and is filed under Eventful World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Tags: Children-s literature event, Filipino Children-s literature, Lara Saguisag, Philippines literature event, SCBWI