Congratulations To Mylene Leumin
Her Beautiful Book Alitaptap Is Our Latest
Reading With Your Kids
Certified Great Read
We had a fun & fascinating time reading Alitaptap, A Philippine Myth of the Firefly by Mylene Leumin. This book is part of Mylene’s tales of Potos series that introduces readers to many of the Philippine origin myths.
The Philippines is also called the Pearl Of The Orient Seas. Mylene derived the name of her book-series in its acronym: POTOS. The Tales of POTOS are stories of animals where each book is a story that unravels how the animal – or the character of the story – earns its distinguishing feature or trait. As a goal, she embedded in the stories, subtle guidance and moral lessons that a young reader can learn from.
The story of Alitaptap begins with a stunningly beautiful introduction to the Philippines. We learn that people lived in harmony with each other and nature. We meet Apong, a wise man who was chosen by the God Bathala to be ruler. Apong is given a magical amulet, called an agimat, to help him rule.
Somehow the agimat is lost, and Apong calls on all of the people and creatures to search for the lost amulet.
One of the things we loved about the story is that of all the mighty creatures who joined in the search is was a tiny fly who saved the day. This is a great reminder for kids that we can all make a difference no matter our size. We also loved that there are many other lessons about kindness and respect found throughout Alitaptap.
The illustrations in the book are bright and fun and really enhance the story.
