Filipino Friends

by Liana Romulo, Corazon Dandan-Albano (Illustrator)

Travel to the Philippines without leaving home!

From the author of Filipino Children's Favorite Stories comes a book for young children that features a Filipino-American boy visiting the Philippines for the very first time. Each watercolor illustration is labeled with English words and their Filipino translations and shows readers both the similarities and differences between Western and Philippine lifestyles. Filipino Friends , perfect for Filipino-American's or those just interested in the culture, is indispensable in bridging the gap between the two cultures.

Following the sweet multicultural children's story, kids will learn about Philippine customs and traditions,

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2006

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rhyming English verse in this book is awkward and stilted in places, but the wealth of vocabulary and cultural information about the Philippines makes up for it. The illustrations are cute and a few of the pages remind me of the bustling chaos of a Richard Scarry spread. I wish there was some back matter providing a pronunciation guide and an explanation that the language being shared is Tagalog.

[Christine Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read more Filipino children's books when I was younger. There are a lot of things I have mixed up in my brain about what's local in Hawaiʻi and where it comes from. Like I didn't realize my family calls it the wet season and dry season on island because we're Pinoy. I thought that was what all local people called it, but when I asked my hapa friends they said they called it winter.
And learning about the culture through this book gave me a glimpse into my parents' and ancestors' way of living. It really highlighted how little I know about the culture.
Reading two Filipino kids' books in an hour had me so emotional lol. Especially the last page of this book "A balikbayan Sam's happy to be-- a Filipino returned to his country!"
If I have children, I hope they can read this book when they're young. And I hope I'll be able to speak to them in Tagalog or Ilocano. One day, I hope to go to the Philippines for the first time too.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liana Romulo writes a story about a Filipino-American boy "Sam" who visits the Philippines for the first time, with illustrations by Corazon Dandan-Albano. The target audience is native English-speaking children who are interested in the cultures of the Philippines. On each page, arranged by theme, different Philippine customs are described through narration of Sam's trip, with key vocabulary words boldfaced. Some thematic topics include weather, family members, food, and games. While some readers might prefer a book which includes representations of other regional groups of the Philippines or representations of people with different physical abilities or skin tones, other readers seeking pleasing images and generalizable Tagalog group identity markers should find this work to be affirmative and supportive for young readers.

[JADE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Began reading this book to my kids for Homeschool. They love it so much! This book teaches your child basic Tagalog words which I highly appreciate. Very insightful looking into Philippine customs and our culture.

I love how there is a little board game the book provides and my favorite childhood folk song “Bahay Kubo” (Nipa Hut) brings back hella memories! 🥰 my favorite was how to respect your elders teaching kids to “Mano po” and How Filipinos celebrate Christmas time. Feeling very nostalgic. I highly recommend this one!

Rating: 4.5 🌟💫

[Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure what it is about this book, but at age 1 Au loooooves pointing to it and choosing it from her bookshelf. The story and rhymes are lacking (and maybe even unnecessary), as it's a book more about identifying items in Taglog/English. Sometimes we don't even read every page and just flip through, pointing at different objects.

[Aurelia S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure what it is about this book, but at age 1 Au loooooves pointing to it and choosing it from her bookshelf. The story and rhymes are lacking (and maybe even unnecessary), as it's a book more about identifying items in Taglog/English. Sometimes we don't even read every page and just flip through, pointing at different objects.

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline is pretty weak- and having it told in rhyme was problematic as well- but, as a word book, it's pretty good. I liked that there was a drink recipe and a game based on a popular Filipino kid song.

[Mc Erl]

It is a good vocabulary learning book, and as a Filipino I approve of it. The story is not super strong, but I enjoyed seeing a diverse story and the Philippines being represented in a book.

[Steph]

Turn Level: B(2)/2-3.5

Filipino Heritage

There are levels to this book, for the younger audiences, stick with the large type font at the top and bottom of the pages.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good companion to Same, Same but Different....

[Thia]

bi-lingual

[Camille Tesch]

Philippines ages 4-6

[Rhett Baerlocher]

Informational text
illustrations: watercolor

The has words from English to Filipino translation. The book goes over family, seasons, food and much more translations. This book would be good for people to be introduced to a new culture.