Written By: Dek S. and Geoleen N. at Foster City Library
October is Filipino-American Heritage Month! San Mateo County Libraries has resources and books celebrating the beauty of the Philippines and Filipino culture. We hope you enjoy this original story about a young Filipino-American finding representation on the library shelves.
Sisa's Story
In a bustling library in the heart of San Mateo County, a girl named Sisa skimmed through the shelves of picture books lined up on the children's library walls. She loved reading books and stories from near and far, but she rarely saw people who looked like her on the covers of these picture books. Rarely did she find tales that mirrored her—a Filipino American.
"Where are the stories about me?" she wondered aloud, "Or my Nanay (mom) or my Lola (grandmom) or my pinsans (cousins)?" Her fingers brushed the spines of fairy tales and adventure books, books about knights, princesses and dragons. Not one of them mentioned the Bathala or Bulan (Filipino gods) that Lolo (grandpa) told her when she was little. Not one mentioned Lakan (nobleman) or Lakambini (noblewoman), Bailan (high priestess) or Mangkukulam (witches).
With a sigh, she sat staring at the children's library walls, giving up her search. The children's librarian saw her and asked, "Is there anything I can help you find?"
Sisa straightened up and asked, "I do hope so, Miss. Do you have any picture books with Filipino kids in them? Kids like me? I want to know more about my family's culture."
The children's librarian paused as she rubbed her chin, seemingly thinking. Then, she flashed Sisa her warmest smile. "Let's see what we can find, Sisa!" Together, they dove into the library's catalog computer. After a few moments of searching, the librarian pulled out books with bright covers depicting sun-kissed little girls boys. Stories with titles that had the familiar words "Lolo" or "Lola" or "Sari-Sari."
"Wow! Look!" Sisa exclaimed. "It's about a girl helping in their family's convenience store. And look, here's another about a boy's adventures fighting a Mumu (ghost)."
Sisa held the books close to her exploding heart, each page revealing more about her culture and ancestry. Even though the Philippines is over seven thousand miles away, she had never felt closer than ever. "These are perfect!" she squealed.
Enjoy More Filipino Stories
Check out the books that Sisa found with the help of our librarian.
Doña Esmeralda, Who Ate Everything!
Celebrate Filipino Culture at the Library
For more Filipino stories, join us for Bilingual Tagalog and English Storytime every second Tuesday of the month at Foster City Library. Come and celebrate Filipino language and culture through Tagalog stories, Filipino Folklore and folksongs.
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