Book Reviews and Recommended Reads: Light, Love and Revolution in Children's Literature (1 of 3)

February is a such happening month. We celebrate Valentine’s Day, National Arts Month, and the anniversary of People Power. All are reminders that love is not only personal, but creative and civic.

In these five Filipino children’s books, love appears as art made by hand, imagination set free, stories shared in libraries, light held in protest, and people gathered in peaceful unity. This month invites us to see that love can be expressed in creation, in memory, and in collective action and that even our youngest readers are part of that ongoing story.

Sayaw ng mga Ilaw (Dance of the Lights) by Cheeno Marlo Sayuno

Illustrated by Aaron Asis

The story centers on a child’s quest for hope and healing as it references the need to honor history. The narrative connects light with civic memory.

Ang Aklatang Pusa (The Cat Library) by Eugene Evasco

Illustrated by Jared Yokte

A cat works in a library and watches over books and readers. The story highlights the role of libraries as safe and shared spaces. It celebrates reading as a communal experience.

Ang Pambihirang Sombrero by Jose Miguel Tejido

A child discovers a hat that transforms depending on how it is imagined. Each page shows the hat becoming something new through visual interpretation. The book emphasizes imagination as an artistic act.

EDSA: A Counting Book by Russell Molina

Illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III

This counting book introduces children to the events and imagery of the 1986 People Power Revolution. Numbers are paired with scenes of unity and public gathering. It presents history in a format accessible to young readers.

Isang Harding Papel by Augie Rivera

Illustrated by Rommel Joson

A young girl creates a paper garden while scenes of the 1986 People Power movement unfold around her. The story connects personal creativity with a historical moment in the Philippines. It presents art as quiet resistance and remembrance.

#bookreview #phchildrensliterature #artsmonth #valentinesday #peoplepower2026

Book Review: 12:01

12:01
Russell Molina and Kajo Baldisimo
Anino Comics

In February, as the nation celebrated the 30th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution, Anino Comics and the EDSA People Power Commission launched a graphic novel set during the final years of Martial Law and the 1986 People Power Revolution.

It begins with four friends, bandmates, who miss the curfew. Afraid of being caught by the police, they seek refuge in an abandoned printing press, which one of them recognizes as his father’s former workplace. As he recounts the story of his father’s capture by the Metrocom, the reader gains an overview of law enforcement during the Marcos years. The story escalates when the bandmates leave their hiding place and encounter a jeepney driver searching for his daughter, missing after several rallies and mobilizations in Tondo, Manila. Alas, the police catches up with them, and a few good men heed the call of the brave. The story ends at a concert during the height of the EDSA Revolution, with the bandmates playing their song not just for freedom, but in memory of their fallen comrade.

What I enjoyed 

Molina is a gifted storyteller, honest and unpretentious in his use of words. What you read is what you get with Russell, and yet he is able to layer events and emotions into a multi-dimensional narrative. In 12:01, Molina is not just telling the story of four friends dreaming of making it big in the music industry; he is also showing us that we all have dreams that can be crushed or realized by forces larger than ourselves. Tragedy can happen anytime, especially during the Martial Law years, but he shows readers how people can live through such dangerous times. And so, we persist.

Baldisimo’s illustrations are dynamic. They are kinetic where they need to be, haunting and nostalgic in exactly the right panels, and dramatic and melancholic when the moment calls for it. The broken coffee cup. The old picture frame. The drumsticks left unmoved on top of a garbage can. His artwork enhances and enriches Molina’s skilled storytelling. And the book cover-- powerful.

What I hope it had

This is more of a suggestion than a critique, and I hope Anino Comics gets to read this review.

There are three songs in the graphic novel: Hala, Tahan Na, and Gising Na. These are seamlessly woven into the plot. But it would have been a great way to further engage teenage readers if guitar chords or tabs for these songs were included. Add a downloadable or streaming MP4/MP3 recording, and you’d have a multimedia material perfect for the digital native.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (Four bookmarks out of five)

Memories of People Power I

I was only twelve when People Power I broke out. I prayed it would soon be over so I could finish sixth grade and move on to high school. Two decades after, I keep the memory of People Power alive to see patterns of repetitive mistakes, failures and sins committed in the hope that I can, in my own little way, change for the better.

The PCIJ provides a historical glimpse of those three monumental days in February of 1986 and what has happened to twenty key people of that peaceful revolution.  Where were you those three days and where are you know two decades after?