Magandang Umaga and Happy Monday!

Our #3PinoyBoys are growing out of the baby stage, in fact we are at the tail end of our toddler years, and with that bitter sweet end nostalgia has been sweeping in. While cleaning out some baby items I was reminded of the first Filipino books I ever bought. Our first year as a family we lived in a high rise in Salcedo and spent every Saturday at the Salcedo Market. It made the transition to city life quite nice to have a regular neighborhood market, the community ritual enveloped us. My first Art In The Park I ever attended I picked up these two books and they have been with us ever since. For five years my babies have read these books and now I pack them away for future grand babies to sit in my lap and hear the language of a land their parents spent their childhood in.

Each culture has their own beloved nursery songs and these two books are fun and simple songs sung to babies and small children. They teach the basics of counting, body parts, vegetables, looking for the good around you and telling the truth! These board books are simple but they can help teach language, culture and moral lessons.

Sampung Mga Daliri

Sampung Mga Daliri is comparable to my childhood nursery song, Head Shoulder's Knees and Toes. The book helps teach basic body parts with a few describing words as well. It is a perfect place to start with small children (or parents trying to learn!) by exposing them to songs and real life vocabulary they can use daily. You can find many variations of the song on Youtube.

Bahay Kubo

You can't get any more Pinoy than Bahay Kubo. I think this might be my favorite Filipino song I am familiar with. Again, if you don't know it hop on over to YouTube, it is definitely a song you want to know! The book is even more of a treat than the melody of the song. The art work of Bahay Kubo seems to be paper or felt based and I just can't get enough. It is so inviting for small children to see a children's book with such innovative mediums. The life brought to the vegetables is silly and creative! Plus, teaching the children to eat healthy and look around them to find goodness is a valuable lesson.

Look at the darling details on the back of the book!

I feel so fortunate that my children and I share both motherhood and childhood together in the Philippines, it really is a special place. The more I learn about Pinoy culture and the land we now call home, the more I fall in love. That love and knowledge has been grown through books. I feel so fortunate to share these with you through my blog. If you have any favorites, please share. I am always looking to grow my understanding and library. :)