CANVAS joins 42nd National Children’s Book Day celebration
Manila City —The Philippine Board on Books for Young People, in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Library of the Philippines, and Museo Pambata celebrated the 42nd National Children’s Book Day last July 15, 2025 morning at Balay Yatu in Museo Pambata.
National Children’s Book Day is held every third Tuesday of July in remembrance of Dr. Jose Rizal’s retelling of The Monkey and The Turtle, published in Trubner’s Oriental Record July 1889 issue in London.
This year, the theme is inspired by a line from Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, “Imagination peoples the air.” The Philippine representation for the 2025 Frankfurt Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair) serves as the Guest of Honour and carries this idea to the international stage. The theme “Imagination Fills the Air!” for National Children’s Book Day intentionally aligns with this, believing in the transformative power of imagination and creation.
The program included a keynote address by PBBY Sectoral Representative for Mass Media, Emily Abrera. She talked about how imagination equips us to navigate the problems that we face. “Imagination allows us to roam around the realms of possibilities.” She recalled stories her father old her as a child and how valuable it was for children to experience playing around with imagination and creation. “When we create, we are fulfilling our most divine aspect.”
After the keynote speech, Portia Padilla was sworn in as a new PBBY Representative for the National Reading Association of the Philippines. New children’s books for 2024-2025 from different publishers, including CANVAS, were presented. Huni sa Kawayan by Fernando Gonzales and Anthony Palomo, and Where Are My Legs? by Leonard John Banaag and Nat Lamina were included in the roster.
The second half of the program included the awarding ceremonies for the 2025 PBBY-Salanga Prize won by Patricia Sy Gomez, the PBBY-Alcala Prize won by Christina Javier, and the PBBY-de Jesus Wordless Book Prize won by Rommel Joson.
A non-profit that works with the creative community to promote literacy and explore national identity, CANVAS publishes its award-winning children's stories and donates its books to benefit children in public schools and poor communities throughout the Philippines. Its “One Million Books for One Million Filipino Children Campaign” promotes independent reading and creative thinking in Filipino children, while also exposing them to the best of contemporary Filipino art and literature.
