Saturday, April 16, 2016

Diverse Children's Books - Learning About the Philippines


All About the Philippines by Gidget Roceles Jimenez
Illustrated by Corazon Dandan-Albano

All About the Philippines is an adventure through the Philippines via daily lives of three cousins. All three have mothers descended from the Ilfugao people who are from Luzon, one of the large islands in the Philippines. One has a father descended from China, another from Spain, and the other from Arab missionaries. As readers follow them through their days, they can see a variety of lifestyles and culture present within the Philippines. 

The author began by introducing the children and followed up with a basic history of the Philippines. I would have loved a timeline at the end, but for this age group, the facts at the beginning were probably enough. This was followed by a geographical tour. I especially enjoyed learning about the underground river that can be explored by boat.

The book has information about languages (there are many and most Filipinos speak at least two or three), games, songs, food, celebrations, and crafts. I am itching to try some of the recipes. 

This would be a great follow-up to reading the fun picture book Cora Cooks Pancit

Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo/Illustrated by Kristi Valiant

Goodreads summary: Cora loves being in the kitchen, but she always gets stuck doing the kid jobs like licking the spoon. One day, however, when her older sisters and brother head out, Cora finally gets the chance to be Mama's assistant chef. And of all the delicious Filipino dishes that dance through Cora's head, she and Mama decide to make pancit, her favorite noodle dish. With Mama's help, Cora does the grown-up jobs like shredding the chicken and soaking the noodles (perhaps Mama won't notice if she takes a nibble of chicken or sloshes a little water on the floor). Cora even gets to stir the noodles in the pot carefully-- while Mama supervises. When dinner is finally served, her siblings find out that Cora did all their grown-up tasks, and Cora waits anxiously to see what everyone thinks of her cooking.


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4 comments:

  1. Just through reading your synopsis I learned information about the Philippines that I did not previously know. I find it fascinating that in so many other countries people routinely speak multiple languages.

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  2. What a great pairing! There aren't enough books about the Philippines for kids out there! I learned about the Philippino culture growing up because my best friend is Philippino. Thanks for sharing at the Diverse Children's Book Linky!

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  3. The Philippines is a culture/place you do not read about often in children's lit, so I am so thankful that you shared these. My school represents so many different countries, I try to always have diverse books available for them.

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  4. I love this series of Tuttle books - but I haven't seen this one on the Philippines so thank you for highlighting it!

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