It has been a while, two months to be exact, since the last post was published on this page. I apologize for my laziness. My life has been filled with so much professional and personal responsibilities, most of which are self inflicted, so I had to take a back step from updating this blog.
But I am finally back on track and since it is a Wednesday, I am out to share a book recommendation for your young children. It is June 27 and the twins are turning five years old on July 1. Crazy right? I started this blog when they were about five months old, and in less than a week, they will be five years old. Time does fly very fast.
As you may have read from my posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, I started “Toddler Storytime” at the Children’s Corner of the Cebu City Public Library (CCPL). I volunteer there every Thursday and the storytime usually begins at 3 p.m. I also bring my children to these sessions but they’re quite bored with my stories and my techniques so while other children are listening to me, they are usually at the back painting using watercolor or playing with clay.
In one of those Thursday visits, Antoinette found the book “Ang Mainggiting Kuting” (The Envious Kitten) in one of the shelves of the public library’s Children’s Corner.
This book is part of a series of value-laden titles written by University of the Philippines professor Eugene Evasco. It is published by Lampara House.
In this story, we met “Kuting,” who embraced envy as her middle name. She envied every single animal in their community. She was never contented about what she has. She envied the accomplishments and successes of other animals. She uprooted the mung bean plant of Biik and destroyed the sand castle of Guya. She later realized that what she did was wrong. She said “sorry” but most of the animals were gravely offended about what she did. Her caretakers, Pagong and Matsing, advised her that saying sorry is not enough; she has to help Guya rebuild the sand castle. She followed their advice later on.
This book teaches the lesson of making things right through action. For many of us, it is easy to say “I’m sorry” to those we have wronged. But apologizing by words is not enough to patch up what has been torn. The apology has to be sincere and “effort-full.” I love how this book subtly tackled crab mentality and how this kind of attitude hurts others.
This is a short book that can be read in less than 10 minutes. The words are simple and easy to read that I read this in two of the Toddler Storytime sessions. This is a bilingual (English and Filipino) storybook. Those who want to read this story in Sinugbuanong Binisaya would need to spend some time to translate the text.
The book size is bigger than the usual Filipino storybooks so it is easier for children like mine (look at the happy look on Toni’s face) to hold it and flip through its pages.
Next week, I will review the book “Ang Espesyal nga Adlaw ni Mario” (Mario’s Special Day) which I will read to children in tomorrow’s Toddler Storytime.
Thanks for reading!
