With National Children’s Book Day celebrated last week, it feels right to look back at how we first fell in love with a good kwento.
Today’s generation of filmmakers, theater artists, poets, and visual creators all started in the very same cozy reading corner. Back then, it felt like a total miracle whenever a group of adults walked into our classroom to hand out storybooks.
Honestly, we loved it because it meant one full hour off from regular lectures!
Academic reading can feel exhausting for kids, but stories are purely fun. Whenever mobile libraries were set up in our covered courts for weeks, reading suddenly felt like playtime.
Teach ‘Em Young
Organizing these nationwide children’s book tours across elementary schools takes a lot of teamwork. Local groups align with literacy movements, government bodies, and publishers like the NBDB, the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, and other DepEd partners. Together, they host creative book tours, storytelling sessions, and workshops for students across the country.
As the generation raised by these very books—now pursuing our own careers—that storyteller spirit stays with us.
As the saying goes, “ang di lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.”
So, let’s revisit a few childhood gems that still live inside us today.
Alamat ng Pating
Written by the legend of children’s story himself, Rene Villanueva, this tale follows a ruthless moneylender named Kablan who mercilessly exploits the poor.
After mistreating a mysterious old man, he is cursed and transformed into a sharp-toothed sea creature—symbolizing his relentless greed and giving birth to the local phrase “parang pating kung magpatubo”.
Alamat ng Pinya
This classic folktale centers on Pinang, a spoiled girl who makes endless excuses instead of helping her sick mother, Aling Rosa.
Exasperated after Pinang keeps asking where the ladle is without looking for it, her mother wishes she had a hundred eyes to see things for herself, causing Pinang to vanish and reappear as a multi-eyed pineapple.
Never Forget Your Roots: Ibong Adarna
Often attributed to José “Huseng Sisiw” de la Cruz, this epic follows Prince Don Juan on a quest to cure his dying father with a magical bird’s song.
While his selfish older brothers fail and get turned into stone statues, Don Juan succeeds by showing kindness to a hermit, using a razor and lemon juice to stay awake during the song, and rescuing his brothers with holy water.
It might seem absurd to look back at these tales as simple children’s play meant to be taken lightly.
However, when you observe them closely, they surprisingly mirror our present times.
Book Lives On!
Books need to live, and they only stay alive if people keep reading them.
Even though today’s youth faces endless digital distractions, passionate community groups are striving to keep reading accessible.
For instance, Reading Club 2000 is an informal library set up by Hernando Guanlao outside his ancestral home in Makati, created simply to share his joy of reading with his neighbors. At Reading Club 2000, there is no membership, borrower’s card or ID required. Anyone may keep the books or return them.
Similarly, Bente Bente Zines is a poet collective independently publishing local artists’ work as zines for just twenty pesos. That same grassroots drive powers places like the Quezon Memorial Circle Little Free Library, Intramuros Book Stop, Cebu’s Lost Books, and Kasingkasing Press.
As Hernando Guanlao thoughtfully puts it regarding accessible reading and education:
Ang isang henerasyon na natutong mag-isip para sa sarili ay isa sa pinakadakilang pananggalang na kailanman ay nagkaroon ang kalayaan.”
All of this serves as a heartwarming reminder that local literature is still thriving.
Thanks to the collective effort pushing these initiatives forward, we can feel reassured
—the kids are alright.
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