The Creation and Production of Mother Tongue Books

One of my friends in the publishing industry has taken interest on the Bulilit Books-Project LEARN Series. I have these questions answered as requested. Sharing it here in the blog, because, sharing is caring!

1. Could you tell me more about the NCPPC? What prompted them to revive this series in Filipino and translate them into Cebuano and Hiligaynon? 

The NCPPC is a foundation and has two main thrusts: nutrition and health education. For more than four decades, they have been publishing materials and teaching resources to help parents, teachers, daycare workers and social workers in the nutrition and health education of children. They have bread products too that are packed with micronutrients. They have adopted public schools in Luzon and Visayas. While feeding kids age 3 - 10 years old, they provide training and instruction on good nutrition, health and hygiene to parents, teachers and community workers (daycare and social workers). In conducting the training, they have modules, reading materials and resources designed and published by their teams, staff and commissioned professionals.

Because health and well being is developmental and systemic, they thought of reviving the Bulilit Books, circa 1976-1982, to address the mental, moral/ethical and values development of children. Thus, they planned PROJECT LEARN.

PROJECT LEARN is a project that is aimed at creating books for k-3 learners addressing reading skills and comprehension development and the MTB MLE program of the DepEd. It has three phases: research and development; writing, editing and revising; and post-production.

The adopted or recipient schools of NCPPC were the first to acquire the books as part of the foundation's programs on good nutrition and health education. They are also selling the books in different markets.

2. How are they being distributed? Retail? Government purchases and donations? School adoption?

The adopted or recipient schools of NCPPC were the first to acquire the books as part of the foundation's programs on good nutrition and health education. They are also selling the books in different markets.

3. Now that the books have been produced, what challenges do you face in terms of sales and distribution?

NCPPC does not have a marketing team that sells in the open market like Lampara. Since it is a foundation, they have limited budget for this kind of distribution. The most that they can do is to have DepEd approve the books as supplementary materials so that schools, public and private alike, can buy them. News is, the Bulilit Books-Project LEARN Series is on the second review by the DepEd. Hopefully, it gets approved!

Mommies Who Read To Their Kids, Succeed!

Photo credit to Mommy Val P. Thanks so much!

When Nico, our eldest told us last month that he and his friends who from ConChords, the a cappella group they formed nearly two years ago, will compete in the A Capella Championship 2018 in Singapore, we racked our brains for ways to raise funds. Planning a trip abroad in a month is a financial nightmare in our case. These things take time, right? So, it must be a generational thing for Nico to surprise us. The experience has been stressful, but fun and exciting. Ah, what the young learn from their elders and vice-versa. 

Long story short, we did crowdfunding, solicitations from family and friends and fund raising. 

I sold my books, the Bulilit Books-Project LEARN series, to raise funds and amazingly, all the Filipino versions I bought have all been sold. In the process, I get comments and feedback about the from friends who supported Nico through this fundraiser.

Mommy Jet was impressed with Magbilang Tayo. She bought two sets as gifts to a nephew and to one of her godchildren. How she missed having a toddler and a young reader, she said. If the book elicits that kind of response, our writing team must have done something write! 

Then there's Mommy Magie, a college friend who bought five sets as gifts too. She gave a set to her daughter's best friend who was, at the time, celebrating her birthday. How timely! Her youngest was so happy receiving the books as well. It must be the personal messages I write to readers. It is something I enjoy doing as well for I believe that authors build relationships with their readers. What's more, I wish to convey to my young readers that when they open the pages of the book, they interact with the story. 

Mommy Val bought eight sets for the same purpose as Mommy Magie. Her son's birthday was within the week when she bought the books from me. The books are give aways and tokens for her son's classmates since he will be celebrating his birthday in school. Here's hoping his classmates enjoy reading the books!

A note from Mommy Shine. How touching!

And then, there's Mommy Shine who first knew my work through Big Sister (Lampara, 2014). She learned of my book sale in Facebook. As a mother of two, she is serious in raising kids who read. She reads to her kids regularly that's why she has a good knowledge of children's books and literature available in the market. When we had our meet up, she told me how her daughter could relate to Big Sister. Oh, I know how it is since I am a big sister too, I replied. And we had a good chat on parenting and reading, and learning and managing time for ourselves as women and for the home we keep. 

This fund raiser has been a fun. Tiring yes, and I had to put aside a lot of work for the summer. But that's how it is with being mom. No regrets. 

My appreciation goes out to all the mommies who bought my book. You, ladies, really know what to do with my books. This makes me one happy author!

We are AUTHORities!

We received our notice of acceptance from the National Book Development Board as presenters and facilitator in the 9th Philippine International Literary Festival (PILF)!

Session 1: Out of the Books Storytelling Techniques

Format: Workshop

Tentative Venue: Little Theatre (30: pax capacity)
Moderator: Melanie Ramirez
Date and Time: April 19, 2018 10:50am - 12:00nn

Session 2: Project LEARN

Format: Forum 

Tentative Venue: Main Theatre Lobby (200: pax capacity)

Speakers: Zarah Gagatiga, Darrel Marco, MJ Cagumbay Tumamac 

Date and Time: April 19, 2018, 4:05-5:05pm

The 9th PILF will be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on April 19-20, 2018.

PPT: Project LEARN @ the 7th Rizal Library International Conference

Project LEARN @ the 7thRILC from Zarah Gagatiga

Joining Rizal Library's 50th Next Month

November 16-18, 2017 is the 7th Rizal Library International Conference. This year, I am presenting a paper I co-wrote with Darrel Marco and MJ "Xi Zuq" Tumamac. Our paper, “Project LEARN: Revisiting History and Creating New Narratives for Young Filipino Readers” has been accepted for presentation under the sub-theme “Culture and History: Philippine Studies and Libraries, Jose Rizal and Libraries, Evolution of Cultures in Literary Texts, Reading Customs and Practices”.

Below is the abstract:

Project LEARN: Revisiting History and Creating New Narratives for Young Filipino Readers

This paper describes the creative process that went through in revising a thirty-year-old series of illustrated children’s books by the Nutrition Council of the Philippines Publishing Corporation (NCPPC), the Bulilit Books. It is a series of books written in English and in Filipino for children age 0 - 12. The series tackles issues and concepts on physical and mental development, home and family life, art and culture, including stories from Philippine folklore and mythology.

The revision project is named Project LEARN: Linguahe ni Juan Para sa Kabataan and has three phases: (1) research and development; (2) production stage; and (3) post production, publishing, distribution, and marketing of the books. The project is already in stage 3 having published all three titles in Filipino, Cebuano and Hiligaynon in July 2017. Plans for distribution and marketing strategies are on-going.

The goal of the Bulilit Books was to improve the health and well-being of the child, however, the language use, prevailing political thought and socio-cultural climate of the 70s were evident in the stories. To simply reprint the originals would prove out of context for the young readers of the 21st century. Significant revisions include changing some elements of the story to create a narrative that is relevant to the experience of the new target readers; adding a guide for teachers and parents that address pedagogical methods; updating the language register and orthography and translating into other languages to cater to a larger audience of parents, educators, and learning communities; and providing new illustrations and design to reflect new trends and methods in illustrating and producing books for children.

Authors: Zarah C. Gagatiga, Darrel Marco, Michael Jude Tumamac

Topics: Culture and History: evolution of cultures in literary texts; reading customs and practices

 

 

Update on Book Project: Bulilit Books 2017

I posted on the blog last April 2017 a slide presentation on a new book project with the Nutrition Center of the Philippines Publishing Corporation (NCPPC). Click the link to recall and view the cover pages again.

The project, dubbed by NCPPC as Project LEARN, is aimed at rewriting and revising the Bulilit Books, a series of books for children and their parents, that were published back in the late 70s and early 80s. There are more than a dozen books in the series that cover themes of good nutrition, Filipino values, arts, culture and history. For this installment, three books from the series were picked for revision, namely: Beybi Bibe; Miyawing Kuting; and Magbilang Tayo. 

Three things make this book project special.

1. The new series include books translated in Cebuano and Hilgaynon by the award winning author, MJ "Xi Zuq" Tumamac.

2. All three books went through a process of research and development, consultations and Focused Group Discussions with readers and the intended audience of the series. That is why, there are activities included in each book for teachers and parents. These activities are applicable to the classroom setting and homeschooling learning experiences.

3. The new series is a collaborative effort by the creative team of writers, illustrator and NCPPC. Working with Darrel Marco on this book project has been a delight as he lent new perspectives to the revision process.  NCPPC has been very supportive of the project too. Respecting our creative and artistic freedom and trusting our working styles for the success of the project. Tinsley Garanchon is the illustrator of this installment of the series.

As lead of the creative team, I have seen the proofs and the dummy books. Beautiful! They are off to the printer now and we hope to see the books launched in July. And personally, I hope the children we wrote it for would love the books as much as we put our love into making it.

Book Preview: Bulilit Books 2017

Book Preview: Bulilit Books 2017 from Zarah Gagatiga