TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales in Ebook

Saturday, September 17, 2022

The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales in Ebook - PAWWA Book Project

I kept my promise! I made an Ebook of the second children's book of folk tales by PAWWA (Philippine American Women Writers and Artists): THE BEGINNING AND OTHER ASIAN FOLKTALES is now available from various Ebook vendors, including Kindle.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFK1X638

The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales is a collection of 18 folktales from Laos (Hmong), the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Sumatra, Bali, India, China, and Korea.

This book was originally published in 1995 as a project of PAWWA (Philippine American Women Writers and Artists) a small group of Filipina writers in Southern California. The goals of that group included supporting one another other, helping other Filipina writers and artists, and providing community service. The group used a grant from the California Arts Council to fund the publication of two books: this one and an earlier book entitled, Seven Stories from Seven Sisters: A Collection of Philippine Folktales (also reprinted by PALH in 2022).
The writers who retold the folktales in The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales include: Ceres S. C. Alabado, Valorie Slaughter Bejarano, Mariko Kitamura Bird, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Fe Panalingan Koons, Susan N. Montepio, Cecilia Caguinguin Ochoa, and Marianne Villanueva.
The artist who did the 18 illustrations is Estela Ocampo Fernandez.

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PRAISE for original edition:
“The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales” is an excellent educational resource not only for the younger generation but also for everyone whose hearts and minds are willing to embrace the uniqueness of each individual in their midst. There is a refreshing theme in each of the stories, many of which evoke the value of hard work, persistence, respect for elders, neighbors, among others.” ~ Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

“This collection presents a wealth of materials to inspire our children to appreciate their culture and those of others around them … truly a gift to the diverse population of Los Angeles!” – State Senator Hilda Solis

“This fine collection of folktales reminds us of another please and another time – a commonality of themes from Asian cultures resonate of family, tradition, and belief. Such themes are a must-read to be shared with our video generation children to balance their daily video inputs with a compelling collection of Asian myths, missed with a hard dose of superstition and mysticism.” Honorable Casimiro U. Tolentino

tags: Asian folktales, Asian folklore, Asian myths, Asian legends

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.