As part of the National Children’s Week in January, the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto launched Children’s Corner on its official website.
Children’s Corner features e-books from the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) that focus Philippine literary and published works such as Filipino myths, legends (alamat) and fables (pabula).
In its first offerings, storytelling sessions on the YouTube platform hosted by consulate staff on the legend of the pineapple, the legend of the Pasig River and the origin of day, night and the starsare available on the Sentro Rizal Toronto website: http://www.philcongen-toronto.com/links/childrenscorner.php
Children’s e-books are available on the NCCA website: https://ncca.gov.ph/childrens-corner/reading-is-fun/#readingisfun and include stories on how the lizard lost its colour and the origin of the Ifugao hudhud (traditional narrative chants of the Ifugao people).
In a media release, Sentro Rizal Toronto hopes that through Children’s Corner, children in Filipino Canadian communities may learn more about the rich Filipino culture and literary traditions. Additions to the collection of e-books will be made regularly with cultural materials to encourage second and third generation Filipinos and Filipino-Canadians overseas of all ages.
The project is supported by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB) and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) which promise to promote Sentro Rizal’s Children’s Corner to students in their respective Board-run schools.
Sentro Rizal Tokyo and the Philippine Embassy in Japan likewise celebrated National Children’s Week by featuring modern adaptations of folk tales and literary classics highlighting Filipino values, presented by the NCCA and the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) with Sentro Rizal’s Children’s Stories for Overseas Filipinos. The videos include modern re-telling of Filipino classics such Alamat ng Ibong Adarna and Francisco Balagtas’ Florante at Laura. Links to the videos are available on the Embassy’s website: https://tokyo.philembassy.net/02events/childrens-week-2/
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