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The Amazing Beasts of Philippine Mythology: When You Have to Say: "Excuse Me, Mister Monster Sir!"
Meet the creepy creatures and amazing beasts from Philippine mythology!
This delightful compendium of mythical creatures (and where to find them) takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the ghoulish and gory things that go bump in the night--blood-sucking trolls, shape-shifting goblins and terrifying vampires who defend their turf with glee as they unleash chaos in the world.
Monsters and magical creatures spring vividly to life on every page of this book thanks to the exceptional artistic talents of some of Asia's leading children's book illustrators. Brief bilingual descriptions and dazzling illustrations introduce 56 fun, freaky and fearsome creatures,
And yes, they live among us--in secret burrows, hollow trees, underwater caverns--and especially in the spaces we call home. "Tabi-tabi po" is the phrase to be invoked in their presence, meaning, "Kindly step aside, Sir, and allow me to pass." These words are respectfully addressed to the unseen creatures who jealously guard their turf and don't take kindly to trespassers, intentional or otherwise.
So be forewarned as you venture into this supernatural realm. Get acquainted with these amazing beasts, and remember to say, "Tabi-tabi po!" when you meet them!
This delightful compendium of mythical creatures (and where to find them) takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the ghoulish and gory things that go bump in the night--blood-sucking trolls, shape-shifting goblins and terrifying vampires who defend their turf with glee as they unleash chaos in the world.
Monsters and magical creatures spring vividly to life on every page of this book thanks to the exceptional artistic talents of some of Asia's leading children's book illustrators. Brief bilingual descriptions and dazzling illustrations introduce 56 fun, freaky and fearsome creatures,
And yes, they live among us--in secret burrows, hollow trees, underwater caverns--and especially in the spaces we call home. "Tabi-tabi po" is the phrase to be invoked in their presence, meaning, "Kindly step aside, Sir, and allow me to pass." These words are respectfully addressed to the unseen creatures who jealously guard their turf and don't take kindly to trespassers, intentional or otherwise.
So be forewarned as you venture into this supernatural realm. Get acquainted with these amazing beasts, and remember to say, "Tabi-tabi po!" when you meet them!
- GenresChildrens
128 pages, Paperback
Published March 12, 2024
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 19, 2024
I loved all the art styles in this book. The summaries of the Beasts were short and to the point. This was really well organized and fun to read!
April 16, 2025
In Summary
If you’re curious to see what creatures inhabit the myths and folklore of the Philippine Islands, The Amazing Beasts of Philippine Mythology provides an illustrated guide to a wide array of monsters and other supernatural beings. To make it fun, the creators have depicted these beings against the backdrop of present-day Philippines. While the artwork is wonderful, it tends to be graphic, so parents may want to review its contents before giving it to a younger or more sensitive reader.
The Review
The title The Amazing Beasts of Philippine Mythology is a little misleading. While the lineup includes dragons and werebeasts, it also includes ghosts and witches, which don’t quite fall into the category of “beasts.” It would be more accurate to title it The Amazing Supernatural Beings of Philippine Mythology.
The book is set up as an illustrated compendium. The Philippines consists of numerous culturally distinct regions, and these creatures fall into several categories. As such, the creators could have organized this collection in a number of ways. What they’ve chosen is to present them alphabetically by creature name. In lieu of a standard table of contents, an index by creature type is provided at the beginning of the book. These creature types are:
Demons (Demonyo)
Dragons
Dwarves (Duwende)
Ghouls (Impakto)
Elves (Engkanto)
Ghosts (Multo)
Giants (Higante)
Merfolk (Taong-Isda)
Ogres (Dambuhala)
Vampires (Bampira)
Viscera Suckers (Aswang)
Werebeasts (Taong-Halimaw)
Witches (Bruha)
Please note that some of these creature categories may differ from what an American reader might associate with the term. For instance, the enormous beings classified as “Giant” are mostly human in form, but the Ikugan is a monkey monster.
Each entry gets a two-page profile that states its name, pronunciation, creature type, and region of origin. Its characteristics are detailed in a paragraph-long description that’s provided in English and Filipino. The written text, which tends to have run-on sentences, is formatted within a two-page spread illustration featuring the creature.
Each illustration was created by a different artist from the ANG Ink Artists Collective. Because there are 29 of them, there’s a wonderful spectrum of art styles and media, including clay, textiles, watercolor, and pencil. A look at the back cover will provide you with a taste of the variety within.
Something else to note about the illustrations is that these are creatures from Filipino myth and folklore, but the artists have placed their subjects in modern settings. Thus, the Batibat is depicted listening to a smartphone while squashing his slumbering victim, and the Ungo, a type of werebeast, is shown transforming from human to beast in the middle of a video conference call.
The book is marketed for children, but I would personally rate it as 12 and up. Among the featured monsters are ghouls which dine on corpses, and some of those illustrations are fairly graphic in showing entrails and other human body parts. Text descriptions of other creatures are downright disturbing. For instance, the viscera-sucker known as the Wakwak pierces a pregnant woman to “violently suck out the fetus, leaving the poor victim to bleed until she dies.” Then there are the raunchier entries, like the man-eating giant Gisurab, which “almost always appears naked, usually with its enormous testicles exposed.” (Although the Gisurab is naked in its profile illustration, the illustration doesn’t actually show those genitals.) While other entries in the book are fun and comical, the alphabetical categorizing mixes all the creature types, so you can go from a humorous drawing of a Dragon on one page to a gruesome viscera-sucker on the next.
For more manga and book reviews, drop by my blog Keeping It In Canon!
If you’re curious to see what creatures inhabit the myths and folklore of the Philippine Islands, The Amazing Beasts of Philippine Mythology provides an illustrated guide to a wide array of monsters and other supernatural beings. To make it fun, the creators have depicted these beings against the backdrop of present-day Philippines. While the artwork is wonderful, it tends to be graphic, so parents may want to review its contents before giving it to a younger or more sensitive reader.
The Review
The title The Amazing Beasts of Philippine Mythology is a little misleading. While the lineup includes dragons and werebeasts, it also includes ghosts and witches, which don’t quite fall into the category of “beasts.” It would be more accurate to title it The Amazing Supernatural Beings of Philippine Mythology.
The book is set up as an illustrated compendium. The Philippines consists of numerous culturally distinct regions, and these creatures fall into several categories. As such, the creators could have organized this collection in a number of ways. What they’ve chosen is to present them alphabetically by creature name. In lieu of a standard table of contents, an index by creature type is provided at the beginning of the book. These creature types are:
Demons (Demonyo)
Dragons
Dwarves (Duwende)
Ghouls (Impakto)
Elves (Engkanto)
Ghosts (Multo)
Giants (Higante)
Merfolk (Taong-Isda)
Ogres (Dambuhala)
Vampires (Bampira)
Viscera Suckers (Aswang)
Werebeasts (Taong-Halimaw)
Witches (Bruha)
Please note that some of these creature categories may differ from what an American reader might associate with the term. For instance, the enormous beings classified as “Giant” are mostly human in form, but the Ikugan is a monkey monster.
Each entry gets a two-page profile that states its name, pronunciation, creature type, and region of origin. Its characteristics are detailed in a paragraph-long description that’s provided in English and Filipino. The written text, which tends to have run-on sentences, is formatted within a two-page spread illustration featuring the creature.
Each illustration was created by a different artist from the ANG Ink Artists Collective. Because there are 29 of them, there’s a wonderful spectrum of art styles and media, including clay, textiles, watercolor, and pencil. A look at the back cover will provide you with a taste of the variety within.
Something else to note about the illustrations is that these are creatures from Filipino myth and folklore, but the artists have placed their subjects in modern settings. Thus, the Batibat is depicted listening to a smartphone while squashing his slumbering victim, and the Ungo, a type of werebeast, is shown transforming from human to beast in the middle of a video conference call.
The book is marketed for children, but I would personally rate it as 12 and up. Among the featured monsters are ghouls which dine on corpses, and some of those illustrations are fairly graphic in showing entrails and other human body parts. Text descriptions of other creatures are downright disturbing. For instance, the viscera-sucker known as the Wakwak pierces a pregnant woman to “violently suck out the fetus, leaving the poor victim to bleed until she dies.” Then there are the raunchier entries, like the man-eating giant Gisurab, which “almost always appears naked, usually with its enormous testicles exposed.” (Although the Gisurab is naked in its profile illustration, the illustration doesn’t actually show those genitals.) While other entries in the book are fun and comical, the alphabetical categorizing mixes all the creature types, so you can go from a humorous drawing of a Dragon on one page to a gruesome viscera-sucker on the next.
For more manga and book reviews, drop by my blog Keeping It In Canon!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2024
I love the range of art styles and creatures. It's great that the descriptions are in both Tagalog and English so I can try to practice reading Tagalog.
May 22, 2024
Amazing. Found a great source for Filipino supernatural creatures.
March 30, 2025
Categorization of creatures, themes of corpse disfigurement, beautiful women, innards. Contemporary illustration interpretations
April 28, 2024
A collection of creatures compiled with illustrations by The Ang Ink Artists Collective. Readers will be delightfully frightened- or frighteningly delighted- learning about all kinds of monsters of Philippine Mythology. It was also interesting to see variants of the same creatures based on where in the country it was being told. Includes both English and Tagalog texts.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews