Development of children s literature in the Philippines

Early literature for children was in the form of:

Lullabies that mothers hummed or chanted to their children
Songs for different occasions like planting songs, verses, riddles, proverbs, di
tties, nonsense rhymes and fairytales.

Baliwayway- an Ilonggot lullaby shows how a father expresses his hopes, fears ,a
nd doubts about his growing boy's future.
Diwaya- an Ilocano lullaby
Panghehele -Tagalogs lullaby expresses the mothers wishes to share the child s gl
ory and pride.

There were also stories about mythical heroes and heroines like Bernardo Carpi
o,Lam-Ang,Mariang Makiling and others.
The early Filipinos were fond of proverbs and riddles which embodied their own
philosophy and unwritten code of morality which they passed on to their childre
n.
Riddles were also forms of entertainment.
Bagto-bagto ,bag-bagto lambik

a ryhtmic singing game of Igorots.

1593
Doctrina Christiana en Lengua Tagala y Espanola by Father Domingo Nieva
The first book for children in the Philippines. The book was used by the elders
for religious instructions and prayers.
Caton or Cartilla
It contained the Roman alphabet and syllables.
1606
Memorias de la Vida en Lengua China was published.
Pamphlets containing the lives of saints, novenarios, prayers and sermons of th
e missionaries and parish priests were circulated among the converts.
The Passion- the story of the life and suffering of Jesus , had the widest popul
ar appeal because of the verses in which it was written.
Corridos- metrical tales in which the characters were kings and queens, knights,
monsters,etc.
Example :Florante at Laura, Pitong
1990 s
The American s introduced books in English like Pilgrim s Progress, Mother Goose Rhy
mes, Alice in Wonderland, Aesop s Fables, Rin Van Winkle.
America s literature became a part of the literature of Filipino children and Amer
ican culture easily became our culture, too.
Ginn and Company published literature books written by American authors, but pre
pared in the Philippines.
Example: Hugo Miller s Philippine Folklore Stories (1904).

Camilo Osias was the first Filipino to write textbooks, in 1920 s he published Phi
lippine Readers, contained native folktales, myths and legends, stories of anima
ls, Books 1 to 7, known as the Osias Readers.
Maximo Ramos recognized the importance of preserving the literary heritage, he w
rote Tales of Long Ago and Philippine Myths and Tales.
In 1940, the Philippine Book Company was founded, and they published children s bo
oks like, All Time Favorite, Fairy Tales in English and in Filipino, The Voyages
in Reading Series.
In 1962, Bookmark Incorporated published the work of a group of Maryknoll studen
ts, these were mostly picture books. Some of them are Pulatino by F. Luna, Ramon
Goes to the City by M. V. Pamintuan, The Star That was Not by L. Enriquez, and
Tobie and the Christmas Bell by M. Yokoto.
In 1945, Bookmark Incorporated encouraged writers to translate some foreign chil
dren s book like The Little Lame Prince and Rubaiyat of Omar Kayyam. Bookman also
published children s books like When I was a Little Boy by I. V. Mallari; Banca Mo
on by Amparo Asuncion and Philippine Myths and Tales for the Young by Maximo Ram
os.
In 1946, National Bookstore engaged in reprinting foreign books and in translati
ng fairy tales in Filipino like the Ladybird Series. The publishing firm also pu
blished comics in Pilipino and English like Rizal s Classic Illustrated Filipino H
eroes Stories, Legends of the Philippines Series, World Fairy Tales Series, Bibl
e Illustrated Series and many others.
Alemar-Phoenix Publishing House published children s books like: Myths and Legend
s of the Early Filipinos by F. L. Jocano, Philippines Folktales by Aquino, et.al
., The Old House, The Ginger Girl and other Stories by C. V. Pedroche.
In 1962, Pamana Incorporated started producing children s books. Among these are:
Makisig: The Little Hero of Mactan by Gemma Cruz, Horgle and the King s Soup by Gi
lda C. Fernando, Once Upon a Hilltop by Isabel T. Escoda, Anak Datu by Abdulmari
Imao, The Wind Whispered to the Grass by A. Lo, Ang Kaharian sa Tuktok ng Kaway
an, etc.
New Day Publishers owned by the Christian Literature of the Philippines publishe
d My Friends and the Haunted Cave by Thelma Zuniega and A Gift by Rosario Ratort
a.