Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Hello! For the Bumasa at Lumaya blog tour I'll be posting the evening of July 23. See you then. =D

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB) are pleased to present to you the winners of the 4 th National Children’s Book Awards (NCBA), the b est Filipino children's and young adult books published in 2014 and 2015. Dumaan si Butiki Written by Mary Gigi Constantino Illustrated by Ray Sunga Published by Adarna House, Inc. Judges' citation: Sino ang mag-aakala na eksayting ang paglalakbay ng isang butiki? Sobrang nakakaaliw ang pagsulpot-sulpot kung saan-saang bahagi ng bahay ng butiki sa kuwento. Ang simpleng texto ay nagamit pa upang ituro ang konsepto ng kabaliktaran, sa paraang kaaya-aya. Kung kaya, hindi ka magsasawa sa pagsubaybay sa lahat ng dinaanan ni Butiki. Haluhalo Illustrated by Eli F. Camacho Published by Adarna House, Inc. Judges' citation: Ang aklat na ito, ay kumpleto sa sangkap, puwera lang sa salita. Marami itong iba't ibang kulay, siksik sa tamis at um...

In the Philippines, the month of July is dedicated to the promotion of children's books. National Children's Book Day (NCBD) is celebrated every third Tuesday of this month. With this year's theme, Bumasa at Lumaya, the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) will celebrate through a book fair and children's literature talks. The book fair and children's literature talks will be held on July 23 at Xavier School in San Juan. The fair shall feature local children's book publishers. Aside from selling selected titles at a discounted rate, publishers will also hold simultaneous storytelling sessions. A special package of all National Children's Book Award-winning titles, from 2010 to 2016, may also be purchased at the fair. Entrance to the fair is free! The culmination of the NCBD celebration is the children's literature talks. This whole-day event will be a gathering of writers, illustrators, students, storytellers, teachers, librar...

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People declared Mark Lawrence Andres as Grand Prize Winner of the 2016 PBBY-Alcala Prize . Andres is a graphic designer of And a Half Studio and has illustrated three children’s books for an NGO. He is also a member of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK) , a professional organization of children’s book artists. Artist John Dominic Ochotorena won honorable mention. Ochotorena is a member of Ang INK as well. This year’s PBBY-Alcala Prize called for entries based on the 2016 PBBY-Salanga Prize  Grand Prize Winner, “Makinang Makinang,” by Genaro Gojo Cruz. Both Andres and Ochotorena will be awarded during the celebration of National Children's Book Day on July 19, 2016 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. For inquiries about the contest, contact the PBBY Secretariat at telephone number 352-6765 loc. 203 or e-mail   pbby@adarna.com.ph .

Whoa, it's been a year since I last blogged! I'm sorry about that; I promise to update with another post this month. :o) For now, please allow me to remind you that February 14 is International Book Giving Day. On that day, you are encouraged to spread the love of books and reading among children by: 1) gifting a book to a friend or family member, 2) leaving a book in a waiting room for children to read, 3) donating a gently used book to a local library, hospital or shelter, or to an organization that distributes used books to children in need internationally. For more details on International Book Giving Day, please visit www.bookgivingday.com and scroll through the hashtag #bookgivingday on your social media accounts.

Give a book to a child today!

You are all invited to an exhibit featuring the winning works from the past 31 years of the PBBY-Alcala Illustrators' Prize . The exhibit will be at Corredor Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman and will open 3 p.m. on August 18.