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The Monkeys and the Sea Cucumbers
Have you ever looked down from your house and seen a sea cucumber? What's a sea cucumber? A sea cucumber is a sea creature, similar to starfish and sand dollars, that looks like a fat hot dog or a cucumber. The Monkeys & the Sea Cucumbers, is by far the world's most fascinating story about sea cucumbers and their secret defense. The Sama, boat people and people of the sea from the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines, have told this fable to their children in the comfort of their homes; houses built on stilts over the ocean. "Hey look! There's a sea cucumber under the house. Let's dive for it." You can imagine that the Sama might know a thing or two more about sea cucumbers than we do. For instance, they've observed that monkeys get really upset at the sight of a sea cucumber. This story has been passed down for generations explaining why.
The Sama are unique. They are special. They have interesting foods. They have a different way of life than us. They are talented. We've witnessed a Sama dive down 260 feet into the ocean on one breath. I wonder if he saw a sea cucumber? It is a common mistake to see unique and special as different and to use differences as a reason to degrade, disregard, and bully. As a warning to parents, this book has some examples of bullying. But we love how in the story the sea cucumbers are respectful and polite while at the same time confident in who they are and also capable of standing up for themselves. When a rude monkey takes out his aggression on a seemingly helpless sea cucumber, he and his monkey buddies find themselves in a very sticky situation. This story teaches an important lesson about how we should treat others and not to underestimate those who are different than us.
This story is a great example of the vast and entertaining oral literature of the Sama people from Southeast Asia. The publisher Kauman Sama Online is committed to preserving and sharing these stories with younger Sama and with an international audience. Our Sama Stories series prepares quality Sama folktales for publication by funding their illustration and production. By selling the book on Amazon for the entertainment of an international audience, we are able to finance more books based on Sama stories and also share the Sinama version (the language of the Sama) with Sama students in the Philippines.
We are quite proud of this story's illustrations which were a collaboration of 11 year old illustrator Danilo CG and several Sama community members who were quite knowledgeable about the various types of sea cucumbers, where you find them, what they should be doing, and how they should look like.
Translating this story and selling it on Amazon is the next step necessary in making more Sama stories come to life, also with high quality and culturally relevant illustrations. We hope that in selling the book in this global fashion, we will be able to pay for the cost of producing this book and more. Once this book has paid for itself as well as the illustration and production of one more title, we will release the images and story as Creative Commons, so that Sama and other minority languages can freely benefit from beautifully told and illustrated Sama stories.
Special thanks to Bapaꞌ Kinista, Bapaꞌ Kallilat, Bapaꞌ Armando, and Hussin for sharing their versions of this story and their knowledge about sea cucumbers. Also we are grateful to Luke Schroeder for eliciting the stories and adapting them into the English language and picture book format.
The Sama are unique. They are special. They have interesting foods. They have a different way of life than us. They are talented. We've witnessed a Sama dive down 260 feet into the ocean on one breath. I wonder if he saw a sea cucumber? It is a common mistake to see unique and special as different and to use differences as a reason to degrade, disregard, and bully. As a warning to parents, this book has some examples of bullying. But we love how in the story the sea cucumbers are respectful and polite while at the same time confident in who they are and also capable of standing up for themselves. When a rude monkey takes out his aggression on a seemingly helpless sea cucumber, he and his monkey buddies find themselves in a very sticky situation. This story teaches an important lesson about how we should treat others and not to underestimate those who are different than us.
This story is a great example of the vast and entertaining oral literature of the Sama people from Southeast Asia. The publisher Kauman Sama Online is committed to preserving and sharing these stories with younger Sama and with an international audience. Our Sama Stories series prepares quality Sama folktales for publication by funding their illustration and production. By selling the book on Amazon for the entertainment of an international audience, we are able to finance more books based on Sama stories and also share the Sinama version (the language of the Sama) with Sama students in the Philippines.
We are quite proud of this story's illustrations which were a collaboration of 11 year old illustrator Danilo CG and several Sama community members who were quite knowledgeable about the various types of sea cucumbers, where you find them, what they should be doing, and how they should look like.
Translating this story and selling it on Amazon is the next step necessary in making more Sama stories come to life, also with high quality and culturally relevant illustrations. We hope that in selling the book in this global fashion, we will be able to pay for the cost of producing this book and more. Once this book has paid for itself as well as the illustration and production of one more title, we will release the images and story as Creative Commons, so that Sama and other minority languages can freely benefit from beautifully told and illustrated Sama stories.
Special thanks to Bapaꞌ Kinista, Bapaꞌ Kallilat, Bapaꞌ Armando, and Hussin for sharing their versions of this story and their knowledge about sea cucumbers. Also we are grateful to Luke Schroeder for eliciting the stories and adapting them into the English language and picture book format.
24 pages, Hardcover
Published September 11, 2021
1 person is currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 26, 2021
A cautionary tale with beautiful illustrations
This story caught me by surprise as I was not familiar with Sama Stories. I think of cautionary tales such as The Adventures of Reddy Fox from Thornton Burgess when I read this. It also provides much room for discussion about bullying and picking on people that are different. Great work!
This story caught me by surprise as I was not familiar with Sama Stories. I think of cautionary tales such as The Adventures of Reddy Fox from Thornton Burgess when I read this. It also provides much room for discussion about bullying and picking on people that are different. Great work!
November 8, 2021
Monkeys & Sea Cucumbers
This was a delightful story about monkeys and what is called, “Sea Cucumbers”. A group of monkeys declared a fight with the seemingly harmless sea cumbersome only to find out that the sea cucumbers had the ability to out smart them without actually fighting. Kudos to the author of which she’s only 11 years old. This story reminds of how much bullying is going on with people that are bigger that want to pick on smaller people. The author reminds us that you appearances can be deceiving. You might be surprised by the outcome of things!
This was a delightful story about monkeys and what is called, “Sea Cucumbers”. A group of monkeys declared a fight with the seemingly harmless sea cumbersome only to find out that the sea cucumbers had the ability to out smart them without actually fighting. Kudos to the author of which she’s only 11 years old. This story reminds of how much bullying is going on with people that are bigger that want to pick on smaller people. The author reminds us that you appearances can be deceiving. You might be surprised by the outcome of things!
November 22, 2021
This one's a "Traditional Story from the Sulu Archipelago", illustrated by Danilo CG, an 11-year-old kid. The story is about how a conflict with a cranky neighbor got out of hand. It's a good morality tale, but it wasn't as entertaining as Agasi Kidnaps Weensy, the other Sama book in my library. Where I think The Monkeys & the Sea Cucumbers really excels is the artwork. The characters are expressive and Danilo has created some nice compositions. The colors and textures really caught my eye. Check it out!
November 5, 2021
Interesting Read
Great story to remind readers to never underestimate people no matter what they look like or how big or small they are! The monkeys were in for a rude awakening as the sea cucumbers showed them who was boss! Don’t underestimate what may look like a small force or the underdog!
Great story to remind readers to never underestimate people no matter what they look like or how big or small they are! The monkeys were in for a rude awakening as the sea cucumbers showed them who was boss! Don’t underestimate what may look like a small force or the underdog!
November 20, 2021
Very interesting read
I was interested not only in story of the book, but also in story of Sama people. Such a great lesson and wonderful connection made between both experiences.
Being different and unique is not the reason to be degraded - exactly!P.S.Interesting style of illustrations.
I was interested not only in story of the book, but also in story of Sama people. Such a great lesson and wonderful connection made between both experiences.
Being different and unique is not the reason to be degraded - exactly!P.S.Interesting style of illustrations.
December 16, 2021
It is an interesting story about monkeys and sea cucumbers. It focuses on moral values that how one should be kind to others and not to bully. It keeps you engaged.
Kids will love it. Recommend
Kids will love it. Recommend
November 2, 2021
Living in the Philippines with the seafaring Sama in houses over the water where very few own a car or a motorcycle, but everyone has a boat, has blurred the lines for me on what is unique and exotic. But, I haven't forgotten how special this story is which I get the privilege to share in this book. The Sama showed me and even fed me my first sea cucumber, but over the years, it seems like I've known about sea cucumbers my whole life. My children get the chance to practice diving for them at depths of 20 feet. This book is special for them because they have gained an appreciation for sea cucumbers through this story.
This story is a fable where animals teach us a lesson or a moral. But it seems that only the Sama have chose to use sea cucumbers as the protagonist of a fable. Really the story is a statement by the Sama of their value and resilience. They are the first to hold up the banner of being a peace loving people, but when pressed by others who look down on or mistreat them they are no cowards. We can be all be different, but we are all equal and we should treat others as we would like to be treated.
This story is a fable where animals teach us a lesson or a moral. But it seems that only the Sama have chose to use sea cucumbers as the protagonist of a fable. Really the story is a statement by the Sama of their value and resilience. They are the first to hold up the banner of being a peace loving people, but when pressed by others who look down on or mistreat them they are no cowards. We can be all be different, but we are all equal and we should treat others as we would like to be treated.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews