Naku, Nakuu, Nakuuu! wins Peter Pan Prize

We’ve known for quite some time now, and we’re so happy to have finally received permission to announce it to the world: the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Sweden has awarded this year’s Peter Pan Prize to Naku, Nakuu, Nakuuu!. Our cheers, cartwheels, and confetti to author Nanoy Rafael, illustrator Sergio Bumatay III, and publisher of the Swedish version Bokförlaget Trasten!

This is IBBY Sweden’s citation for the book:

The Filipino picture book Naku, nakuu, nakuuu! represents a part of the world not often seen in Swedish publishing for children. The theme, however, is universal: A child getting a younger sibling. The boy Isko’s anxiety about the changes he suspects will take place in his family is expressed by the recurrent cry of “Naku, nakuu, nakuuu!” (roughly “My, my, oh my!”).

The illustrations mirror the main character’s apprehension, and visualize his fears in an imaginative and detailed way. Through a changing palette of colours the pictures follow Isko’s mood from anxious bewilderment to the harmonious final page: Here, the mask which Isko has worn throughout the book has been removed, and he seems to have grown into his role of soon-to-be older brother.

The IBBY Sweden website has this to say about the Peter Pan Prize:

It was established in 2000 by IBBY Sweden and the Göteborg Book Fair. The prize is awarded annually to a book for children or young adults of high quality in both literary and subject terms, satisfying one or more of the following criteria: by an author previously unpublished or little known in Sweden; from a country, language group or culture with limited representation in Sweden;  with content concerning children or young adults in less familiar countries and cultures less familiar to Swedish readers.

This is not the first time Naku, Nakuu, Nakuuu! has won an award. The story and illustrations won the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) Silver Anniversary Salanga and Alcala Prizes in 2008, while the illustrations also got the Encouragement Prize for the same year’s Noma Concours for Children’s Picture Book Illustrations. Last year, it was chosen by the Metrobank Foundation’s Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators (NOTED) to be part of the National Book Development Board’s list of Highly Recommended Supplementary Materials.

The Peter Pan Prize is a great honor, putting Philippine children’s literature in the same category as last year’s winner, While We Were Out (Ho Baek Lee), and The Arrival (Shaun Tan) which won in 2011. Mabuhay ang Pinoy na panitikang pambata! 

Official IBBY-Sweden Invitation

Call for Entries 2013 PBBY-Alcala Prize

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) is now accepting entries for the 2013 PBBY-Alcala Prize.

The winner shall be given a cash prize of P25,000.00, a gold medal, and an opportunity to be published. Prizes will be awarded in an appropriate ceremony to be held during the celebration of National Children’s Book Day on July 16, 2013.

Contest Rules:

1. The contest is open to all Filipino citizens except those who are related to any PBBY member up to the third degree of consanguinity.
2. Entries must be based on the 2013 PBBY-Salanga Prize-winning story by Michael Jude Tumamac, “Ngumiti si Andoy.” A copy of the story may be requested from the PBBY Secretariat or downloaded here or from the PBBY website.
3. All entries must be original unpublished illustrations that have not won in any previous contest.
4. All entries must consist of three (3) illustrations that are of the same size and medium.
5. A contestant may send in more than one (1) entry.
6. Each entry must be signed by a pen name only, preferably on a small piece of paper pasted on the back of each artwork. Entries with a signature or any identifying marks are automatically disqualified.
7. Together with each entry, contestants must submit a separate envelope, on the face of which only the pen name of the contestant shall appear. The envelope must contain the contestant’s full name, address, contact numbers, short description of background, and notarized certification vouching for the originality of the entry and for the freedom of the organizers from any liability arising from the infringement of copyright in case of publication.
8. All entries must be sent to the PBBY Secretariat, c/o Adarna House, 109 Scout Fernandez cor. Scout Torillo Sts., Quezon City by March 14, 2013.
9. Winners will be announced no later than April 19, 2013. Non-winning entries must be claimed no later than May 31, 2013, after which they will no longer be the responsibility of the organizers.

For more details, interested parties may contact PBBY by calling (02) 3526765 local 203 or e-mailing pbby[at]adarna.com.ph.

Teacher Wins 2013 PBBY-Salanga Prize

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People declared Michael Jude C. Tumamac as the Grand Prize winner of the 2013 PBBY-Salanga Prize. Tumamac’s winning story, “Ngumiti si Andoy,” is a story inspired by the life of Andres Bonifacio. Michael is a teacher and a proud member of Kuwentista ng mga Tskiting (KUTING) and Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA).

Honorable mention went to Mark Anthony Angeles for his story, “Si Andoy, Batang Tondo,” and April Jade Biglaen for her story, “Ang Supremo at ang Kuweba.”

Tumamac shall receive Twenty-Five Thousand Pesos and a medal. Prizes will be awarded during the celebration of National Children’s Book Day in July 2013.

For inquiries about the contest, contact the PBBY Secretariat at telephone number 352-6765 loc. 203 or e-mail pbby [at] adarna.com.ph.

100 Questions Filipino Kids Ask Volume 2 bags National Book Award

For the 31st National Book Awards, held on November 17, 2012 at the National Museum of the Philippines, the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle bestowed the title of Best Leisure Book on 100 Questions Filipino Kids Ask Volume 2.

The citation for the award reads:

“Kids, or more precisely, the kids in all of us, kids, adults, or even seniors, love to ask questions. If we don’t, then we have a problem. Curiosity drives progress, and without curiosity, we would not be anywhere. The book 100 Questions Filipino Kids Ask tries to satisfy our curiosity about some questions that are on our minds, but what it really does is to make us realize that we should be asking some of the questions in the book that have never occurred to us. For example, Who are the binukot? Who invented video games? Who invented sipa? Why do flowers smell good? How can we help reduce our carbon footprint? How do people choose where to put cemeteries? These are not questions that kids – Filipino or not – are likely to ask, but they should be asking these questions. No, we should be asking these questions. For making leisure educational as well as provocative, the National Book Award for Leisure is given to 100 Questions Filipino Kids Ask, Volume 2, by Alai Agadulin, Javier Asuncion, Victoria Bravo, Kata Garcia, Emylou Infante, Glenda Oris, May Tobias-Papa, and Cynthia Villafranca, Adarna House and Liwayway Marketing Corporation.”

Not mentioned in the citation, but deserving of equal merit and recognition, are the illustrators of the book Pergylene Acuña, Frances Alvarez, Audrey Ang, Zeus Bascon, Nicole Lim, Lynyrd Narciso, Ariel Santillan, and Ray Sunga;  and book designer Abi Goy.

Hulaan: Ano ang sunod naming ilalabas na big book?

Sa Araw ng Pagbasa sa ika-27 ng Nobyembre, babasahin ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino sa mga bata ang pinakabagong sahog sa aming big book collection.

I-share ang Facebook post namin tungkol dito (hanapin sa aming Facebook page), at subuking hulaan kung ano ang pamagat ng bagong big book. (Mayroon na kaming storybook nito, palalakihin lang namin.) Magbibigay kami ng libreng kopya ng bagong big book sa unang makakahula, at magra-raffle naman kami ng 5 big book (kasama ang pinapahulaan) sa lahat ng magse-share para sa isang masuwerteng mananalo! *

Hula-hula na hanggang November 5 (Monday)! Mag-private message sa amin, o mag-post ng comment para manghula.

* Kailangang yung Facebook post (at hindi lang basta ang link nito) ang i-share, para ma-track lahat ng kasali sa papremyo. At hindi maaaring sumali ang empleyado, authors, at illustrators ng Adarna House hanggang third degree of consanguinity.

EXTENDED: Join our character costume contest!

1. The contest is open to everyone except for: the authors, illustrators, and storytellers of Adarna House; and the employees of Adarna House and their relatives up to the 3rd degree of consanguinity.
2. To enter, you must have a Facebook account, and must have Liked Adarna House’s official Facebook page.
3. Choose an Adarna House character and create a costume for a child based on the character. The character should be in a still-in-print book by Adarna House. All available titles are found in our online store.
4. Take a photo of the costume and post the photo on Adarna House’s Facebook wall, labeled with the name of the child, the name of the character, and the title of the book.
5. Entries must be uploaded during the month of August 2012. [EXTENDED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 3, 2012]
6. There is no limit to how many entries (characters) a contestant may enter.
7. Contestants must be available and willing to attend the awards ceremony which will be held on September 14, 2012 (Friday) at the Manila International Book Fair, SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City.
8. The 6 photos with the most “Likes” by September 7 will make their way into a shortlist of 12 entries. (The other 6 will be chosen by a board of Adarna House staff, authors, and illustrators based on the creative production and design accuracy of the costume.)
9. The shortlist will be announced by September 10, 2012.
10. The People’s Choice awardee and the Grand Prize winner will be announced at the awards ceremony, when the winners will be given their certificates, and books and merchandise worth Php 4,000.00 and Php 6,000.00 respectively.

Call for videos: Teaching new words to kids

Adarna House is on the lookout for fun, bi- or multilingual 30-second videos to post on its YouTube channel.

The video must feature a child not older than 6 years old and a word (in English, Filipino and/or the child’s mother tongue) from one of our board books.

The video may include other people apart from the child. The goal of the video is to unlock the word through the use of realia (actual object), visual representation (drawing, photograph, or graphic), actions, or context clues.

We shall post selected videos from July to December 2012. Should your video be chosen as one of our posts on YouTube, you will receive a Ready for School box set (10 flip concept books), a set of Silver Edition storybooks (4 titles), and 10 storybooks of your choice.

To send in an entry, e-mail your video as an attachment to ergoe [at] adarna.com.ph along with your complete name, the name and age of the child in the video, your relation to the child, mobile number, and delivery address. The subject of your e-mail should read: 30-second video: [Word] / [Nickname of Child].

We will acknowledge receipt of all entries, and send another e-mail if your video will be uploaded to our YouTube channel.

We hope you join us as we look for new and creative ways of introducing reading and language to the Filipino child.