| July
10, 2003
More children's books
Aklat Adarna's batang historyador
series |
SINCE I wrote about Aklat Adarna's
"Batang Katutubo" [Indigenous Child] last week, I thought I
may as well go on to promote other local children's books.
As you might have guessed, the reason I'm doing this is all the
publicity that's gone around the latest Harry Potter book, "Order
of the Phoenix." It is simply amazing that they sold five million
copies of the book on the day of the launch alone, thanks to massive
promotions, the Internet and, let's face it, a reading culture in
England, Canada and other countries.
Just to give you an idea of the
differences in scale here, there were 750,000 prepaid orders for the
Harry Potter book in Canada alone. That for a country with a population
of only 25 million. In Hong Kong, there were 3,000 prepaid orders, again
a high figure when you consider that English isn't widely spoken there,
and that their population is only 6.5 million, less than Metro Manila's.
In the Philippines, with a population of 80 million, I read that
Powerbooks bookshop processed something like 1,000 prepaid orders. Of
course, the comparison is not totally fair, when you consider language
and purchasing power. The book costs more than 1,000 pesos each, and
even Filipino adults will rarely shell out that amount for a book of
their own.
Most Filipino parents are already hard pressed finding the money to pay
for required textbooks. In fact, I suspect the parents' constant
complaints about expensive textbooks probably instills, among children,
the idea that books are a terrible burden, rather than opening a world
of knowledge and discovery.
Despite all these limitations, it is encouraging to see more children's
books coming out. Aklat Adarna's selections are astounding and
outstanding. Besides the "Batang Katutubo" series, I did want
to mention their "Batang Historyador" [Child Historian]
selection, which are all bilingual, with texts in Filipino and in
English. Each of the five booklets in the series deals with a particular
historical epoch in the Philippines: pre-colonial, the Spanish, American
and Japanese occupation, and pre-martial law.
As with the "Batang Katutubo" series, "Batang Historyador"
has UNICEF support so the stories weave in themes of children's rights.
The story of Diwayen, set in the pre-colonial period, is about a girl
who was forced into "alipin" (slave) status because of her
parents' debt. She ends up friends with Lunhaw, a "binukot" (a
child of a datu). You'll have to find out what happens to this
friendship by reading the book, but I thought the story can be a great
way of discussing not just pre-colonial history but of the class divide
we have today. The parallels between the "alipin" system of
the pre-colonial period and our system of domestic helpers today are all
too obvious, and using the Diwayen story could be a good way of
educating the next generation to be more humane to the household
helpers.
The other issues tackled in the four remaining history booklets include
the right to an education, child labor, the freedom of expression, and
protection in times of armed conflict.
Some of you might be asking, "Shouldn't children's books deal with
lighter subjects?" Well, I should point out many classic children's
stories and fairy tales from the West were intended as morality stories,
warning about the dangers of the world. To give one example, there was
Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf. The wolf was actually a metaphor,
and you can imagine about whom little girls were being warned. Many
fairy tales were in fact quite violent and sexual, and if they had been
written today, they would have been roundly criticized and banned by
religious conservatives.
(Not that the conservatives aren't trying to censor children's books.
Conservatives have tried banning Harry Potter books allegedly because
they promote witchcraft. In the United States they have tried to ban
children's books that feature same-sex couples, for example, or single
parents.)
But if I might get back to our children's books, I have to say they are
usually non-controversial, while being very educational. Preparing for
this article, I checked with one of the National Bookstore branches and
was amazed at the variety of children's books that are now produced
locally. I should mention Lampara [Lamp] books, many of them revolving
around older folk tales and written up by Rene Villanueva.
Then there's OMF Literature Inc. and their Hiyas [Jewels] collection for
children. OMF is a Catholic publishing firm, so you have a selection of
Bible stories and "Christian Values" productions. Besides
these, they have a number of books on health, written by the prolific
Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, also known as Tito Doc.
A sample of titles pretty much tells you what they're about: "Nang
Maghasik ng Lagim si Lolit Lamok" (When Lolit Mosquito Brings
Terror), "Ayan si Bolet Bulate" (There's Bolet the Intestinal
Worm). It's not all battles with diseases though. The series, "Mga
Kuwento ni Tito Dok" (Stories of Tito Doctor) explain how our
bodies work, again with playful titles like "Aray, Nasugatan Ako!"
(Ouch, I Cut My Finger! -- that's the translation they gave) and "Aba,
May Baby sa Loob ng Tiyan ni Mommy" (Wow, There's a Baby in Mommy's
Tummy).
All these Hiyas books are bilingual and, as children's books go, can be
used for all ages. For younger ones, you can read the books to them, and
add your own little subplots and bits and pieces of information. Older
ones can manage on their own but you might still want to ask them what
they thought, and answer their questions.
Let's not forget children's books can be read by adults as well. I
always enjoy browsing through these books. The illustrations and the
stories remind me that children are in many ways privileged, being able
to read books that allow their imaginations to run free, even as they
explore life and the world. |
