A BLAST FROM THE PAST:A Colorful Retelling of Ang Alamat ng Palay

by Abigail Esguerra

Last August 27, 2021, we were given a chance to participate in The Philippine Board on Books for Young People’s online workshop in The Basics of Children’s Book Reviewing under Ms. Beverly Siy. As a student of literature, this workshop allowed me to grow even further as both a reader and writer, especially in terms of understanding and writing about children's books. This review was a fruit of the learning experience found in Ms. Siy’s workshop.

Growing up, legends and myths were always told to me as bedtime stories. My grandmother, whom I considered to be my own Lola Basyang, would tell me stories of how the world and those that reside on it came to be. There was the famous Monkey and the Turtle, and their race to the finish line. There was also the memorable legend of the pineapple, with the lazy Pina and her numerous eyes, which often pushed me off my seat when I found myself idling around instead of doing chores. So when I stumbled upon the children’s book, Ang Alamat ng Palay, at my mom’s library, it brought back many fond memories of being tucked into bed while listening to the gentle, yet animated croon of my grandmother. Ang Alamat ng Palay, written by Virgilio S. Almario, is a creative retelling of the legend of the rice. With Conrad A. Raquel’s art, the legend was brought to life on the third edition that was published by Adarna House in 2012. The story was set in prehistoric times, where men only knew how to hunt for food and other resources, which resulted in a continuous migration of tribes. It starts with an introduction to the characters, Banag and Danas, a couple who wanted to settle down in one place to have their own family. Banag confided to Danas that she did not want to move to different places every time they weren’t able to find food. So after leaving their group, the couple built a home by the mountains, living simply with a river nearby. However, when the drought came, they were once again deprived of resources. Instead of moving to another place like they used to, Danas decided to search for food by traveling across mountains.

 Unfortunately, Danas was not able to find some. When he passed out from exhaustion on an empty field, it was like magic happened; the grass started to sing to him. It taught him what he can do to procure food for his family, singing about turning the grains of the plants around him into food—into what we know now as rice. When he went home, he did what was told of him and shared the rice with Banag. The grass continued to sing the following day and taught him to plant, to make more of the rice they ate. It told him to share this with others too—to teach them how to grow their own. Soon enough, with the help of others, their fields grew bigger and bigger, and they were all able to settle down in one place. Gone were the thoughts of migrating to another place for food.

 Almario’s retelling of “Ang Alamat ng Palay” is both very imaginative and easy to understand, that it was like listening to my grandmother read to me once again. His words were simple and concise, a detail that must not go unnoticed since this is a book written for children. Both the characters of Danas and Banag grew as they learned how to make their food, straying away from the ideas of moving away. Instead of going along with their tribe, they decided to live on their own and were able to bring change in their own lives by doing so. What I liked about this book, other than Almario’s way of writing, was that it consists both of Filipino and English, which are the two most dominant languages in the country. This would allow children to learn and take in the story in both languages, with its accuracy in translation.

Image courtesy of Adarna House

In the terms of its art, Conrad A. Raquel was able to showcase the story pleasingly in the eyes. As one read through the book, there was a noticeable following of a color palette as a whole, with their use of different shades of earth colors throughout the whole book. What’s great was that, despite having a certain color palette, each page still held its individuality. Each illustration stood out from its pages, with Raquel’s focus on only two to three colors, like the shades of brown, orange, and red, and allowed it to harmonize together. Due to my familiarity with the textures, as I grew up with a knack for art, I assumed that the artist used watercolor and pencils in their art, which gave vividness to the characters of Banag and Danas, as well as the background details, like their Bahay Kubo and trees. The faces of the first three people were, however, quite scary at first, with their haunting expressions, but the fear was toned down when I met Banag and Danas. Their softened expressions were more alluring to me, as a reader, and would surely be even more so to the children. Despite the wide point of view, Raquel’s maximization of the spaces in each spread was in harmony since they were able to balance the spaces for texts with tiny details like the palay and animals on the field. The integration of the local tradition and practices, like the use of tribal clothing for Banag and Danas and the traditional Bahay Kubo as their home, was also a notable detail to me, since the legend was told in the context of the Philippines. Children would not just learn of the Alamat ng palay, but also of the country’s own culture.

As for the exterior of the book, Ang Alamat ng Palay was published in a soft-bound book, its quality reminds me of a magazine with its glossy front and back pages; an ideal material for a children’s book since hard-bound books can be quite expensive. The use of this material will make it more accessible to all since reading and owning books, even at this time and age, is considered a luxury. The font used was similar to the text inside, creating a sense of wholeness in the book. Its overall simplicity in the cover design made it easier to look at, focusing only on the main character Danas and palay on the cover. The size of the book was also ideal; as tall as the regular size of books, but wide enough (around 5 x 8 at most)  to accompany the art and text within it.

Ang Alamat ng Palay (2012), as retold by Almario and illustrated by Raquel, all in all, was a recommended read, for not only it conveyed the message of hard work, but also told a story of a local legend creatively. Similarly written like a grandparent telling a story, it easily captured the attention of those who decided to pick it up. Along with its additional content at the back, like lessons on rice grains and interactive questions about the story itself, this children’s book is something that can be enjoyed not only by a child but also by those who are nostalgic for the stories from their past.