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

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