Featured at Fully Booked's Author Spotlight

Seen at the Annual American Library in Philly!

 

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Masaya ang Maging Manunulat!

Read Aloud ni Teacher Loraine 

Isa akong masayang manunulat kapag may mga nare-recieve akong balita na babasahin at gagamitin ang aking aklat sa pagkukuwento sa mga bata. Noong unang lingo ng Mayo, binalita ni Ms. Loraine Bautista, 2nd year college student ng Miriam College, taking up a bachelor's degree in Childhood Education, na gagamitin niya ang aklat naming Masaya Ang Maging Ako (Gagatiga at Bauza, Lampara 2020) sa pagsasalaysay. Bahagi ito ng kanilang group project na makapagturo ng literacy skills sa mga batang nasa day care.

Pero, may malaki silang problema. Wala daw silang makuhang kopya! Kaya nagpadala ako ng kopya ng aklat at nag-transfer si Loraine ng bayad. Isa pa ito sa aking ikinatuwa. May respeto sila sa aking sining at sa buhay manunulat.

Lingo ng Mother's Day noong i-send ko via Lalamove ang aklat. Nagdaan ang ilang mga araw, nakakuha na ako ng feedback. Hiningi ko ang pahintulot niya na i-blog ito kaya, ibinabahagi ko ngayon ang kagalakang ito.

Good morning, Ms. Zarah! Thank you so much for your book! I was able to use it yesterday during our teaching implementation with the day care learners. They were very engaged and had so much fun with the story, especially because it sparked their imagination! We also received great feedback from our professors, who said the book is very nice and perfect for kids We truly enjoyed reading it, and we loved the illustrations too! Salamat po, and God bless you!

Aaminin ko na naghahangad akong magka-award muli. Malaking trabaho at bibilang talaga ng panahon ang ganitong pangarap. Subalit, ramdam na ramdam ko ang pagkatotoo ni Loraine. Pinili niya ang aming aklat para ibahagi sa mga batang paslit. Para na din akong nakapanlo ng award.

Maraming, maraming salamat!

Book Launch: 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙎𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙍-𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙔 𝙆𝙄𝘿𝙎 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙊𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙄𝙍 𝙒𝘼𝙔

 

Writing, Roots, and Resilience: The Story Behind Tales from the 7,000 Isles: Filipino Folk Stories

I am the featured author of the Pamana Children's Library in Chicago, Illinois!

“For the month of March, we are also honored to feature Zarah Gagatiga, the author of Tales from the 7,000 Isles: Filipino Folk Stories, now available in the Pamana Children’s Library. In her heartfelt article, “Writing, Roots, and Resilience”, Zarah reflects on the personal journey that led to the creation of this treasured collection of Filipino folk tales. She shares how this project, born from a deep connection to heritage, became a source of strength and healing during a time of personal challenges. Zarah also pays tribute to her late collaborator, Dianne de Las Casas, whose dream of preserving Filipino stories lives on through their joint work. Join us in celebrating the enduring power of storytelling and its ability to foster resilience, connection, and remembrance.”

Because it's National Women's Month, here is an excerpt where I fondly remember my co-author, Dianne delas Casas and Bernie Solina-Wolf.

Dianne has since passed on in 2018, and the artist who created the book’s cover, Bernadette Solina-Wolf, has also crossed this realm unto the next. In my imagination, they are together, creating stories and beautiful art in a place where everything is at peace. Their stories live on here on Earth, and while I miss them so much, our friendship continues through the book we lovingly collaborated on. 

Full article -> https://tinyurl.com/mse8vnac

They even included a plug and a promo of our forthcoming book, Filipino Folk Tales for Children: Stories of Wisdom and Wonder (Tuttle Publishing). Thank you, Pamana Children’s Library!

Read about Pamana Children’s Library story and our mission by visiting our page on the Rizal Center website: https://rizalcenter.org/programs/pamana-childrens-library/

Book Preview: Filipino Folk Tales for Children: Stories of Wisdom and Wonder

 

Book Blog Tour: I Say Thank You

The Manila International Book Fair will open tomorrow and I am pretty excited to have a book release party and book signing for our new book, I Say Thank You, at the Lampara Booth. Part of the activities in the book release party is a book blog tour I am organizing. 

Here are the details:

Book Blog Tour: I Say Thank You

Author: Zarah Gagatiga

Illustrator: Bleps Dapo

Publisher: Lampara Books, 2024

Facilitated by Zarah Gagatiga via School Librarian In Action: https://lovealibrarian.blogspot.com/

 

Book Blog Tour Schedule: The Book Blog Tour will begin on September 6,  2024 with an announcement on School Librarian In Action. A blog round up will be posted September 25 and October 10, 2024. 

Here are are three simple steps:

1. Read the book.

2. *Post on your blog or socmed account/site:

1. a review of the book

2. an interview of the author; publisher; editor; illustrator or book designer**

3. a character sketch in visual or written form

4. a readers/teacher-parent guide

3. Use the hashtags when posting on socmed: #ISayThankYou #GratitudeandJoy and tag @zarahgeeh and @lamparabooks on IG; @thecoffeegodes on X and @Zarah Gagatiga on FB

Participating book bloggers, librarian, writers and reviewers: @xi zuq, Trina Vellila-Milan, Arthur Cabezas, @iamacidreflux, Nitoy Gonzales, Maryanne Moll, Ali Co Calleja, Troy Lacsamana.

Watch out for the book blog schedule!

What Are You Grateful For?

In light of the upcoming release of our new picture book, I Say Thank You (Lampara House, 2024), friends on Facebook shared their gratefulness as response to my question. "What are you grateful for?".  

Here are selected responses that brought a smile in my heart especially at this trying time. Thank you, friends, for sharing your joy!

I Say Thank You is available for purchase at the Manila International Book Fair on September 11 - 15, 2024. See you there!

I am Grateful for_I Say Thank You_ZarahG by zarah gagatiga

New Picture Book: I Say Thank You!

 

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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.

2019 Monthly First Post

As I keep up with this blog tradition, I am also reminded of how fortunate I have been this 2019. The year is awfully hard and I could not have made it this far if not for the support of friends at work, in the book industry and in Philippine School Librarianship. As the year ends, I can only say thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

January - Prayer for the New Year - I should have gone back to this every time I needed to. Reminder to self for 2020, pray more. Pray harder!

New Year’s Prayer for the Family

God, thank you for a new year. May everyone in our family be willing to begin anew with a clean slate. We know that you are always ready to forgive us. Help us to be willing to forgive ourselves and to forgive one another.

As we begin a new year, remind us of our truest values and our deepest desires. Help us to live in the goodness that comes from doing what you want us to do. Help us to put aside anxiety about the future and the past, so that we might live in peace with you now, one day at a time.

Amen.

February - Teacher and Librarian Collaboration - My work always involves collaborating with faculty and academic coordinators.

I had a productive meeting with our Dean of Faculty last week. 

March - A Hymn to Time - I can no longer remember the context of the post, but I should post more poetry, di ba?!

Time says “Let there be”
every moment and instantly
there is space and the radiance
of each bright galaxy.

April - Pilgrim's Pit Stop - Because I also write for the Magis Deo Newsletter.

Sometime in early February, I felt weighed down, irrelevant and vulnerable. Work made me listless and dissatisfied. Changes in family life left me confused, even lost. Under the circumstances, I would rather protect myself by staying in my comfort zone. I did recognize the invitation to be brave. Being brave, however, would mean taking risks, going the extra mile and stretching an arm and a leg. I found myself asking, “what for?” and at “what cost?” I was tired.

May - School Librarian in the 21st Century - This is part 1 of a three part post about my participation in the 2019 PASLI Conference in Manila. When you visit the post, do read the entire series as I have shared some insights and reflections too.

The last week of April is when most library organizations in the Philippines have their national conferences. The Philippine Association of School Librarians, Inc (PASLI) is one of them. Many school librarians are on summer break in April and PASLI sure knows where to go to offer its members a conference where learning and fun both happen. I have had participated in many summer conferences of PASLI in the past and I always felt welcomed.

June - Summer Writing Workshop - Something I do every summer. And yes, I will be doing this again in June and July 2020.

Points for discussion:

 ⁃ Story Grammar: formats and elements

 ⁃ Children’s Literature Today

 ⁃ The stories that shape our childhood

 ⁃ Why write for kids

 ⁃ Writing workshop: writing, critiquing and revising

 ⁃ Note: if you have stories for workshop and critiquing bring 4-5 copies

July - Books. Tech and Design Thinking - Some random thoughts on the topics of tech, books and design thinking.

Since my summer began in early June, I have been to several round table discussions and meet-ups with friends in the education sector and in the book industry. Our topics of conversation range from reading, to books, the creation of information and knowledge, ways to communicate these resources to them and the behavior we apply as we consume them. I discovered and validated three things.

August - Library Skills Sessions at the Beginning of the Academic Year - What I do in the Academy

I am preparing for next week's library orientation and research session with our Griffins. The teacher in me is excited to go back to school, officially, and meet new and returning students. Another part of me is missing vacation already. Such is life.

September - Bookish Convo and Self Publishing - Meet up with Techie Lopez who was, at the time, starting out a book project.

Von Totanes, Director of the Rizal Library, introduced me to Techie Lopez via Messenger. Techie is an aspiring author who is at a crossroads. She has written a story but could not decide where to bring her manuscript. Finally, after chatting online, she decided to self publish. 

October - Filipino Illustrations in Picture Books - A Q and A over SMS led to a post in the blog and lead to a talk on illustrations and picture books.

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

November - Game Changers in Philippine Librarianship - Thanks to John Hickock for this feature and study of librarians in the SEA region making a difference.

It is in October when the Rizal Library conducts its international conference. I have participated in this academic and scholarly endeavor countless times and I have always felt welcomed by the library community there. Each visit, be it for work, professional or personal matter, feels like a day of hanging out with my favorite cousin. On its 8th International Conference, I was there once again as a social guest by John Hickok of the American Library Association. He attended the conference as a paper presenter.

December - Room To Read Book Project - Yes. 2019 has been a good year. Everything is grace.

The news that our book, Masaya Maging Ako (Gagatiga and Bauza, Lampara Books) is included in this brochure and will soon be out for publication surprised me like a thunderstorm. On this day when typhoon Kammuri passed through CALABARZON, the Philippine Children’s Book Industry has something to smile about. And that is on top of all the gold medals that the FIlipino athletes are raking in the 2019 SEA Games. 

My 2019 Top 9 on Instagram

What Good Public Libraries Do

Last month was National Public Library Awareness. I gathered from librarian friends working in the public library sector through Facebook of the many activities they had. It was in the same month when I got tagged by a friend living in Canada of a photo he took of his son and wife reading my book, The Day Max Flew Away (Lampara Books, 2017). I also learned that my books are all available in the public library of Calgary. Amazing! What good public libraries do!

This may be a month late, but allow me to amplify the relevance of public libraries to a person, to his or her family, to the community and society in general.

1. Public libraries are spaces where a person can find his or her own people. Through services that allow him or her to access reading materials and informtion that represent his or her heritage, language and culture, the world is a little less lonelier.

2. Public libraries bridge gaps between peoples and generations. Imagine my friend’s delight to read a book in Filipino to her son when they have been living in Canada for years. The longing for home never ends. Thanks to the public library and its librarians who make books that speak of home available to migrants and immigrants. Now, a Canadian born child of Filipino ancestry could read along with his parents a story written by a Filipino author!

3. Public libraries empower people, their families and communities. Reading is a right as much as it being a skill and a set of skills to be learned. Learning to read is a skill that is learned at home, first of all. If books for learning how to read are too expensive to acquire, then public libraries come in to the rescue. What’s more, their services are developmentally programmed. There is everything for everyone in a well funded, well supported public library.

So, having said all these, I hope Filipino librarians continue to learn from each other and from the experiences of others. I am still hopeful that, despite the many challenges we face, we are able to rise above it to empower people, bridge gaps and show empathy. On a personal note, I thank the librarians of the Calgary Public Library for including my books in their Filipino collection. This is inclusive library services. This is recognising diversity. These are reasons libraries are all the more relevant today.

Storytelling Workshop for Kids at the Museo Pambata

Greeting PASLI A Happy 40th Anniversary

The Lighthouse Diary Entry 8: Taking a step backward

Around July last year, I was inspired to star a new blog entry about the work I do in the Beacon Academy. I had seven entries and here is a brief review of each.

Entry 1 - Collaboration and Collaborative Teaching Strategies - where I wrote about the challenges that collaboration entails plus, links to different teaching strategies.

Entry 2 - Desires, Passions and the World's Greatest Need - thoughts on the inspirational talk of Mr. Bobbit Suntay, one of our Board of Trustees and my response: to give a library orientation to our Griffins that deals about library issue I deeply care about. The importance of reading. The role of libraries in this day and age. The aspect of community in library development.

Entry 3 - The Theory of Knowledge Tree - how we responded and tried understanding the fruits of the Palawan Cherry tree that grows in the school campus.

Entry 4 - My Life as a Teacher Librarian - reflection on my roles as teacher librarians. I have been a part of the Beacon Academy community since it started out in the Binan campus (2011). Seven years! I was a different person back then and the roles I hold as teacher librarian has changed too.

Entry 5 - Research and High School Students - reflections on the reference work, readers services and on the counter instruction, direct and indirect.

Entry 6 - Student Made Zines in the Library - stretching the boundaries of school collection development, I am also responsible for the documentation and archiving purposes of students' works.

Entry 7 - Defining Research - more reflections on research. It never ends. Reflection. But it is the Action part that really makes reflection a worthy endeavour.

And now I begin another year of reflections on library work, teaching, research, working with teachers and students. Writing about them gives meaning to this little life I lead. I don't know what topics and issues I will be writing about. In cases like this, I trust my gut.

Life is a box of chocolates, said Forest Gump's mom. I will let life surprise me in all its flavours!

Cut and Tear Storytelling Technique: Joseph and His Overcoat

Around November last year, I was invited by a group of Library and Information Science graduate students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines to give a talk on Media and Information Literacy. Needless to say, it was well received.

As I was on my way out, the group requested for a parting shot. I told them of Joseph's Overcoat, a cut and tell storytelling technique I learned from my dear friend, Dianne de Las Casas (+).



The opportunity to create something out of nothing is always present! Seize it!

Book Project Preview: A birthday and a video game console

Here are two studies from new book project that I have been working on with a librarian-artist. 

Can you guess who the artist is?

Can you guess what the story is all about?

Effective School Librarianship: Successful Professional Practice From Librarians Around the World

Three years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Patrick Lo in Osaka, Japan for the IAFOR (International Academic Forum) Conference. We were both paper presenters on school libraries, school librarians and leadership. At the time, he was working on a manuscript on comparative librarianship. Dr. Lo moderated the session where I presented my paper on School Librarians as Literacy Leaders. From there on, we had regular conversations on school librarianship in the region. This conversations led to my participation in his book project.

The good news is, the book is already published and can be bought online since December 2017!

Effective School Librarianship: Successful Professional Practice From Librarians Around the World is published by Apple Academic Press. Check the link for information on the book's price, content and reviews.

Here is one review by Dr. Helen Boelens, of the International Association of School Librarians, Special Interest Group (SIG)

“Fascinating reading . . . The authors have collected interviews from school librarians throughout the world. Some of these people work under very difficult circumstances. Interviewees have mentioned a multitude of “secrets” of their successful work. . . . It is my hope that, after reading this book, educators, teachers, and librarians and also members of the general public will have a better understanding of school librarianship across the world and that they will be inspired to cooperate with each other in many different ways, assisting those who desperately need help and support. This would be in the best interest of the children whom they serve and relates to their duty of care as educators.” 

—From the Foreword by Dr. Helen Boelens, International school library researcher and consultant; Former Chair, IASL Research SIG, The Netherlands

The book is described as:

The school librarians’ best practices cover innovative ways to encourage students to (1) read voluntarily for pleasure and for information; (2) to gain basic information literacy skills for the navigation, evaluation and use of information; (3) and to develop competence as independent learners—a key factor for successful enquiry-based learning.

The books are jam-packed with information that can be used by school librarians, teachers, school administrators and others in a variety of ways. Readers can borrow best practices from the experiences presented in the book, and the volumes can also serve as a strong voice for the practicing school librarians and the profession, through expanding the opportunities for professional sharing in the international school librarian community.

There are fourteen school librarians and teacher librarians in Asia in PART 2 of the book and I am honoured to be one of them. Most of all, I am very much interested to get a copy of the book to read the stories of colleagues from outside the Philippines, their best practices and success stories, how they hurdle road blocks and break down walls. 

What we think is unique to us may actually be something we share in common to colleagues from outside the shores of this archipelago. 

Imagine! Play! Wonder! Storytelling Workshop 2017: 10 Reasons Why This Workshop Matters

Imagine! Play! Wonder! Storytelling Workshop by Zarah C. Gagatiga from Zarah Gagatiga