Companion Reads for the New Year: I Say Thank You and The New Bicycle

Dear Teachers and Parents,

As we welcome the New Year,  I invite you and your young reader to reflect on gratitude and wise choices as foundations for new beginnings. My books, I Say Thank You gently introduces children to the practice of noticing kindness, care, and everyday blessings, helping them develop a habit of appreciation that grounds emotional growth. The New Bicycle, on the one hand, complements this by exploring patience, saving, and responsible decision-making through a child’s realistic and effort. Read together, these books support meaningful conversations at home and in the classroom about values we carry into a new year: thankfulness, self-control, and thoughtful hope.

Companion Reads for the New Year

I Say Thank You introduces young readers to gratitude through everyday moments, showing how noticing small kindnesses builds awareness and care. The book invites children to name what they appreciate in their lives, from people to experiences. It frames gratitude not as obligation, but as a practice that grows gently with habit.

The New Bicycle

The New Bicycle explores the idea of waiting, choosing, and valuing what one works toward. Through a child’s desire for a bicycle, the story introduces basic financial literacy concepts such as saving, prioritizing, and understanding needs versus wants. It emphasizes patience and responsibility without moralizing.

Why They Work as Companion Pieces

Together, these books speak to the New Year as a season of intention:

• Gratitude (what I already have)

• Agency (what I am working toward)

One looks inward with appreciation; the other looks forward with purpose.

Two Short Interactive Activities

My Thank You & My Goal Page (10–15 minutes)

How:

• After reading, ask children to fold a page into two columns.

  • Left: “I say thank you for…”

  • Right: “This year, I am working toward…”

• Younger children may draw; older children can write words or short sentences.

Why it works:
This links gratitude (I Say Thank You) with intentional planning (The New Bicycle), helping children see that appreciation and effort can coexist.

Choice Talk: Today or Later? (5–10 minutes)

How:

• Present a simple scenario: “You want something today, but you can also wait.”

• Ask:

  • What do I already have that I can be thankful for?

  • What happens if I wait? What might I gain?

Why it works:
This reinforces financial literacy ideas from The New Bicycle while grounding decisions in awareness and contentment from I Say Thank You.

Ang INK Panel 2023: What Makes A Good Picture Book?

 

Ang INK will be having another group/organization exhibit and part of the event is a panel that discuss picture books. They have invited four industry thought leaders in the panel and it is an honor to be a part of it. It will be on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 3PM at the UP Fine Arts. 

For this purpose, the Inkies sent guide questions ahead of time. 

1. What is your favorite picture book? It can be foreign or local. Share why you think it is the best. 

2. What is your definition of a good picture book? 

3. What is NOT a good picture book?

I am assigned to answer more questions as a school librarian. Such questions excite me because, there are so many trends and movements in Children's Literature these days. Ang INK is one group I am excited to share my ideas and opinions with. 

For starters, here are some of  my thoughts:

* A picture book is a visual art. Consider the pages of a book as a canvas in sequence. It moves and it can be moved both by the creators and the reader/viewer. The intended reader for this matter, is the child. A well crafted picture book becomes the child's experience in appreciating a visual art. The picture book is an art experience or aesthetics. I think it is also important to ask, if the creators' intended audience is the child, how then can they communicate art and aesthetics to this specific audience? Now here is an amazing thing, even adults find joy in reading picture books.

* My response to definition of GOOD and NOT GOOD would be the question: who gives value to the picture book, especially if this is considered as a visual art?

* Primarily so, it is important to use the principles and foundations in the visual art or visual literature as criteria, guide or a standard when creating and evaluating picture books, vis-a-vis, the reader's intent and context.

* While there are principles of visual literature, as guide in selecting, reviewing and acquiring picture books, we need to expose our children and ourselves to different kinds of picture books.

These are all for now. I am putting them up here so I can remember. I hope to see you there, friends!  

Ang INK Asks: What makes a good picture book?

 

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When We Talked About Children's Books and Social Justice

Last November 29, 2020, Candy Gourlay and I were panelists at the Pandemic Playbook event. This is in part, an activity and discussion on books in general as it was the last few days of the Manila International Book Fair. 

Candy has blogged about her after thoughts on the panel we had. We were tasked to discuss the Teaching of Social Justice. As authors, we preferred to talk about how we Navigate Social Justice in Children's Books. 

Visit Candy's blog, and read up on the way she distilled her ideas about social justice, young readers and the author's life. The blog post includes links to our panel and the Manila International Book Fair YouTube channel. 

 As for me, I don't think social justice per se can be taught, but empathy and compassion can be nurtured and nourished. We can build the ethos among children. When a person recognizes another person's pain, as well as joy, it is easier to understand the other's emotions. An awareness of the emotions is the beginning of critical thinking. That is a good time for a teachable moment. Parents, teachers, school librarians, counselors and working adults who are caring and looking after children need to be perceptive of these teachable moments regardless of the given curriculum, subject matter, expected norms or social behavior. The ability to see another person as as an equal begins with kindness. This, I think is the seed bed for justice to grow.

 And because we are ever curious, we felt it is but proper to continue the conversations. So last night (Manila Time), Candy I went live on Instagram to talk about the picture book scene in the Philippines, the issues we Filipino children's authors grapple with that find its way in our fiction. 

Candy tweets below:

Filipino author & librarian Zarah Gagatiga clues me in on some truly brave and visionary #picturebooks in the Philippines that reflect the tough realities of child readers while offering hope and possibility

Our IG Live Chat👉https://t.co/JfJJIEQXnC @SCBWI_BI pic.twitter.com/3sXEYoRezc

— Candy Gourlay (@candygourlay) December 7, 2020

Head on to Twitter and Instagram for the ongoing conversation. 

I am still working my way through the memory and experience of the live chat. These days I take things slow for my mental health. But definitely, I will pick up on another topic, especially the one on human capital, which we covered and pare it through another blog post.

Filipino Illustrations in Picture Books

I am sharing this exchange I had with a dear fiend in the book industry on identity and book illustrations. 

Bestie: Question! (This is research for one of my talks.) What makes Filipino illustrations Filipino?

Me: Simple lang yan for me. If the reader feels Filipino when he/she encounters and engages in the book or the art. Let the writer and artist create a book or art Filipino man siya o hindi. If there is a reader who sees himself or herself in the art, in the story and his/her culture and values as a Filipino then, that's it. 

Filipino author ka? Filipino illustrator ka? Sulat ka lang. Gawa ka lang ng art mo. If the book or the art connects to a Filipino reader, identifying values and culture that amplify his or her identity and sense of self as Filipino, then that's a book or an illustration that is Filipino. 

Now there are instances when a reader, not Filipino necessarily, is able to find himself in a book or in the art of the book made by a Filipino. I think it's because art and literature are great equalizers -- As much as death and tragedies do.  

Bestie: Follow up question 😁 Then what would make a foreigner identify illustrations as "Filipino" and enjoy / appreciate the illustrations as foreigners?

What he/ she initially knows about the Philippines and its people. Dianne de Las Casas thought of using the jeepney as cover for our book. Cramped. Overloaded with happy passengers. That's her worldview and perspective. It was Bernadette Solina Wolf's husband, Michael who is German, who made the suggestion to put colorful banderitas in the margin. Fiesta - that's how Michael identify Filipino culture. 

The enjoyment comes in when the reading or the engagement with the book begins. 

Bestie: Is there anything. . . "universal" about our illustrations?

Me: Themes and concepts, yes. But the style of art, I am not so sure. 

Maybe universality would depend on the illustrator's vision and rendition. Take for example Serge Bumatay's illustrations of Tight Times. It feels so, ah, European but, I also feel that I am reading a book made by Filipinos. 

Melag makes use of Baroque. But the use of space, balance and perspective reminds me of what life is like in Tuguegarao, my father's hometown. 

I love pepper Roxas's work in Mang Andoy's signs because it reminds me of two things from my childhood - the golden books series and my growing years in Pateros!

I also think that universality would also mean or connected to, aesthetics, beauty and even, ethics. We appreciate what is beautiful and good and we say, ah, it's art! 

In Retrospect: November is Picture Book Month

Today is the 1st of November. Picture Book Month (PBM) begins. 

But, with Dianne de Las Casas’ passing last year, it has been a great challenge to keep PBM alive. As we are all used to celebrating PBM, it would have been launched with a calendar of themes each day of the month in early October. The first PBM Champion’s essay on the relevance of picture books would have been posted on the website and on social media. And classrooms, libraries and homes would be celebrating reading and the many delights of picture books. In this day and age, when a gathering dark circles around the globe, the reason to promote reading and to emphasize the importance of books in our individual lives and in the collective consciousness is paramount. PBM must be kept alive. 

Such is not completely the case this year. 

I have been Dianne’s content and web admin for PBM since 2016 as well as PBM Champion in 2013. It saddens me that this year, I am not as busy campaigning for books and reading in the US through PBM and National Book Month in my home country, the Philippines.

Dianne and the rest of the PBM ladies who started it all in 2011 have created amazing content with messages that speak of truths, insights, goodness and beauty that we all need to be reminded about. Over the years, essays written by PBM Champions enlighten readers of the ever changing and exciting landscape of Children’s Literature in general and the picture book industry, specifically. PBM is not only a celebration. PBM is a community.

I do not know where PBM will go from here, given the challenges of keeping the website up and running. But I am holding on to a candle of hope that one day, these challenges will be resolved. 

In the next few days, readers will get to read essays of PBM Champions from previous years. This year, it is a PBM celebration in retrospect. May the curated posts that I will be putting together serve its purpose to remember why we need to do what we need to do in any positive way we can.

Today is the 1st November. It is Picture Book Month. Read! Share! Celebrate!

Picture Book Month and Picture Books In A High School Library

Our Learning Support Teacher, perusing picture books in the library

As I am now working in a high school library, my collection development program is based on the needs of high school learners as well as their reading interest and developmental levels. There is the curriculum to refer to and I often use it side by side with my selection and acquisition procedures. Pedagogy and instructional philosophy are contexts I latch on as I grow and develop the collection.

So, if you visit our small library, you will find the required General Collection, Filipiniana, Reference Collection, AV and Online resources, and Fiction Collection. Over the years, I have acquired a good number of graphic novels and picture books too.

Yes, our high school library has them.

I think, picture books are important in our high school library because, we involve our students in the process of creating them. While many of them grew up reading picture books, knowing new titles and classic ones help them in creating their own. A few years back, our school project was the creation of picture books for K-3 readers. We called it Early Readers Online. We have started a good collection of stories made by our high school students. The stories in the collection are used by our students during their tutorials with K-1 students of Loma Elementary School. You can view them online through our school website. The link is here: The Beacon Academy: Community and Service.

Picture books are useful tools to teach a second language too. Our learning support teacher uses them to introduce Filipino to our foreign students. Illustrated story books about the Philippines add to context building in learning the Filipino language. The techniques and strategies to learn a new language are many. Using picture books is one of the strategies as it inspires the learner to create one.

Speaking of picture books, Picture Book Month is just around the corner. It is an international celebration of picture books and reading. It is an advocacy started by the sparkling, Dianne de Las Casas, award winning author and storyteller.

Back in 2013, I was part of the gang as one of its champions. Read more about it here: Picture Book Month 2013. This year, another Filipino creative made it to the list. Isabel "Pepper" Roxas is a 2016 Picture Book Month Champion! Head on to the Picture Book Month website! You will discover a wealth of resources to use in your library when you promote reading, picture books and literacy in general.

Picture Books Matter!

My eleven minutes of fame as I talk about picture books and why it matters in the TV show, Good Morning Kuya, televised at UNTV.

Librarian On TV: Good Morning Kuya Segment Ikonsulta Mo

I have had the pleasure and luck of appearing on TV several times in the past. My first TV appearance was in an episode of Art Angel where I demonstrated making a telescope out of empty tissue holders. The second one was in a game show where I happened to be one of Von Totanes' "land line" in Game Ka Na Ba? The third one was in PGMA, a program on PTV where I was interviewed about books, reading and PBBY-NBDB projects.

With the hosts of Good Morning Kuya

Last week, I was on television again as resource guest for the topic on picture books.

The female hosts of the show were in awe and wonder at the picture books I had with me.

The morning show on UNTV, Good Morning Kuya, has a segment there where guests are asked a question. The guest and the hosts of the show discuss the topic of the day. The question I had to answer was: Why are picture books important?

With Ninang Riza and Angel, they too want to write their stories. Sulat na!

So I said that picture books are a child's first formal introduction to the printed word, books and reading. I gave more relevant answers but I could not recall everything as I write this post. So, a video of the segment must be available sometime soon. Then I can share it with those who didn't see the morning show live on TV.

Signing copies of books to be given away to hosts and the show's director.

My breakfast was also featured on the show.

With Diego Castro, analyzing the nutrition content of my big breakfast: mushroom and cheese omelet, toasted bread and side salad. Black coffee caps off the morning meal.

I can't be more proud being a librarian. The TV appearance was an opportunity for me to promote books, reading, literacy and librarianship.

Pinoy Illustrator Interview: Liza Flores

Liza Flores, illustrator and former President of Ang INK, answers questions about her creative process and the challenge of illustrating Dear Nanay, our book which was published by Lampara Books (2014).

a. What attracted you to use paper when illustrating a book for children?

I have always loved paper! As far as I can remember, whenever I'm at National Bookstore, or any store that has paper, I'd be looking at the store's paper selection (whole sheets, cut sheets, gift wrappers, notebooks), even if I had no real use for it. In a trip to the US, I bought Manila paper, just because their Manila paper had a nice thickness, and was in a nice yellowish-crafty color. 

I think the idea of using paper was planted in my head when I got a set of Japanese bookmarks when I was around 10 years old. 

Then I discovered I was pretty good with scissors. 

b. How different is this medium to, say, water color or digital media as far as rendition is concerned?

When I use paint or colored pencils, I have to have a very clean and detailed drawing of the whole book before I can color. (1) I start by making small thumbnail studies. (2) Then, I draw all the pages again, but this time bigger, a little bigger than the book's size. I use regular bond paper and a pencil when I do this. (3) With A light box, I trace my drawings on to the actual paper board I'll be using. (4) Finally, I color my line drawings.

With paper cutouts, I can jump from rough thumbnail studies straight to cutting. I don't draw on the paper I cut. I just imagine the shapes I need, like a circle for a head of a character, then I cut. Almost any object can be simplified into simple, basic shapes. So I would cut one piece or element at a time, move things around to see what works, and build each character, scene, and page as I go along. Then, I glue the parts when I'm happy with what I have.

c. What was your approach to Dear Nanay? The story is pretty sad, but you made it appear light and cheerful.

I remember Beth Parrocha saying that whenever she got a sad story, the more she wants to make the illustrations happy. That's how I felt after reading the manuscript. 

Also, how the story was written was already easy to understand. So I figured there was room for the illustrations to be less literal. I could illustrate sending a letter via snail mail, or via email, but why not via paper airplanes? 

d. Is being an artist/illustrator your first choice of career? If not, what made you become one? If it is, what keeps you in it?

I couldn't decide what course to take when I was applying for college. I knew I liked art, and maybe something communication-related, but that was it. So I ended up choosing Visual Communication (Fine Arts), not really knowing what I'd be when I graduate. 

It never occurred to me that being an illustrator was a career until I saw INK's exhibit whan I was in college. In fact, it's funny that it never occurred to me that real people made the drawings in my favorite books. And when I saw the illustrations of Robert Alejandro, Mel Silvestre, Joanne de Leon, Beth Parrocha, I thought, hey, I'd like to do that too!

I enjoy the process of making a book. I like imagining the story and making it "real". I learn something new every time: about the materials I use, about what I am capable of, about how to tell a story better. Then, there's the happy bonus of seeing my work printed, and being enjoyed by the one reading it.

WRAD 2014: Raising Our Voices Blogging Challenge Week 3

Week 3: February 24 - March 2
A Snapshot of My Reading Life
Post a photo that gives readers a glimpse into your reading life. This could be your favorite place to read, your bookshelf, your library, your classroom, a book from childhood that you still re-read today, your favorite person to read with. Anything that brings joy to your reading life will work! 

Below the photo share a short narrative explaining why this picture is meaningful to you. 

These are my favorite books to read aloud to kids because it brings me and the listeners lots of joy!

Top to Bottom: Xilef; Chenelyn! Chenelyn! Sandosenang Spaatos,
Ang Pambihirang Buhok ni Raquel, Sundalong Patpat

Top to Bottom: Officer Buckle & Gloria, Stella Luna, Library Mouse, Swimmy
TUESDAY, The Rainbow Fish, Here We All Are, HUG

Top to Bottom: Lizard's Song, Clifford, The Cat in the Hat, Love You Forever
The Carrot Seed, Chika Chika Boom Boom, Mooncake, The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Picture Book Month: My Essay on the Importance of Picture Books

Picture Book Month is happening till the end of the month. My essay on the importance of picture books appeared last November 23, 2013. Here's an excerpt:

When I do author visits in schools and libraries, I make it a point to cover this collaborative process in creating picture books. I think children can learn a lot from this experience especially when they are presented with activities to make their own picture books with classmates and friends. We learn better when we interact with others. In picture books and in creating them, we learn from others too!

For the whole piece, read it here.

Picture Book Month 2013 Round Up of Champions: Nov. 4 - 7, 2013

Fantastic ideas and thoughts on picture books!

Picture books are important because pictures are what initially attract a child to a book and, from there, to the whole process of reading.
 
Larry Dane Brimmer, Nov. 4, 2013


I am baffled that there exists the debate of “either/or” when it comes to picture books as actual books versus ebooks. It seems to me that we are talking about two very different things, and hopefully, both have their place in the world. I would love to see the ebook evolve into something that works with and/or complements the book, rather than compete with and try to be a facimile or skeuomorph of the physical book. Just as there are many ways in which the ebook can not duplicate the wonders of the physical book (i.e. trim size, page turn, tactile experience, etc.), similarly, there are ways in which the physical book can not duplicate the potential wonders of an electronic supplement to the story (i.e. animation, sound effects, interactivity,etc.)

Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Nov. 5, 2013

Picture books give the reader a chance to be a part of the story, controlling the pace by deciding when to turn the page, when to linger over a special word or sentence, when to leap ahead or jump back in the story, and when a book is really good, to turn back to page one and start reading all over again. In real life, we can’t do these things.

Daniel Kirk, Nov. 6, 2013

And because they’re picture books, the words tell only half the story. The rest is revealed by the art, which helps kids notice details in the world around them, plants the seeds for art appreciation, and teaches them to look beyond words for emotional clues with respect to communication.

Emma Walton Hamilton, Nov. 7, 2013

Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November.

Current Book Project: Dear Nanay

Can you guess the illustrator I am collaborating with on my current book project?

November 2013 is Picture Book Month

Celebrate with Picture Books! Read * Share * Celebrate!

There's a calendar that can be downloaded in the Picture Book Month website. It is beautiful! The calendar is designed by Elizabeth O. Delumba. Register now and plan activities to celebrate literacy through picture books this coming November.

Picture Book Ambassadors

November is Picture Book Month and I'm one of its ambassadors! Here's the official press release from Dianne de Las Cassas, founder and number one champion of Picture Book Month.

Friends:
I am sooo excited about Picture Book Month this year. We have confirmed David Adler, Dianna Aston, Rick Anderson, Larry Dane Brimner, Julie Danielson, Carmen Agra Deedy, Tomie dePaola, Rebecca Emberly, Sue Fliess, Zarah Gagatiga, Candace Fleming, Lee Harper, Jannie Ho, Steve Jenkins, Daniel Kirk, Jesse Klausmeier, Mercer Mayer, Bobbi Miller, Wendell Minor, Hazel G. Mitchell, Jerry Pinkney, Robert Quackenbush, Rob Scotton, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Michael Shoulders, Wendi Silvano, Heidi Stemple, and Rosemary Wells. Stay tuned for more to come!

Go the http://picturebookmonth.com/">website
for more information
, promo kits and activity ideas for your school and library!

Reader Feedback on My Daddy! My One and Only!

When I was in Bali last week for the IASL Conference, I got this feedback from a parent who has copies of my books, A Tale of Two Dreams and My Daddy! My One and Only! 

The Daddy one especially really moved my daughter and me. It supports what values I am trying to raise my daughter with, and for her-wow she was able to make real connections and see value in her daddy that she hadn't seen before!

And then the senti factor got me :-) It is beautiful. Thanks!

 I will be at the Manila International Book Fair on September 14, 2013 to sign copies of my books. I suppose the illustrators will be present too! The book signing will start at 1PM in the Lampara - Precious Pages booth. At 3PM, I move to the conference room at SMX to join Eugene Evasco and Heidi Eusebio Abad,two wonderful writers of children's stories, in a panel on writing stories for children.

I hope to see you there!

Today is International Book Giving Day!

Who will get these books?

Lost and Found by Rica Bolipata-Santos, Layb Life by Michael Pinto and Looking Back 6 by Ambeth Ocampo

Assorted picture books! YAY!

The Drawings of Kora

This one is for Kora Dandan Albano who is selling her art works for a very, very good cause. Got wind of this info from her Facebook account so when I learned she was selling I immediately reserved one of her Ampalaya artworks. This is an original drawing from the best seller Alamat ng Ampalaya by Augie Rivera, published by Adarna House. Ampalaya is such a character, but, Kora's red hot sili (pepper) is a scene stealer. I have always wondered what that pepper knows that the reader does not.

Interested to buy Kora's art works? Go to her FB page, Kora Dandan Albano, and check out the photo section.

Picture Book Month 2012

It is November and the calendar is full of literary and literacy events. There will be a Read Lit District affair in Manila come mid-November and it promises a host of popular literary celebrities from here and abroad. Thanks to the National Book Development Board's (NBDB) untiring efforts of bringing readers, writers and lovers of words together, Manila is fast the becoming the new literary events place of this generation. Let's just hope that the sparkle and glimmer of celeb writers who will visit our shores will reach the regions. Perhaps technology can do that. With social media and the Internet, what is not possible these days?

Speaking of which, a US based literary and literacy event is taking place this whole month of November as well. And, thanks to Facebook, I am reminded to blog about it!

It's Picture Book Month!

Dianne De Las Casas, one of the founders of Picture Book Month has consistently been posting updates over at FB. Visit the website for details. There's a theme to talk about and discuss every week for as long as it concerns picture books! Also, there's a long list of authors and illustrators who speak and advocate the creation and readership of picture books.

Why are picture books important?

Dear me. I learned to read through picture books. My kids learned to read through picture books. And I bet, there are lucky kids out there who are learning how to read through picture books. By saying this, we look at reading not just a way to comprehend the written word but a skill set to derive meaning out of pictures, images and visual metaphors. Picture books are a trampoline for young readers so that they'll be able to tackle difficult materials and media in the future.

We're preparing kids for reading and for LIFE. Let's add picture books and the reading of it in their daily diet!