Filipino Friends Book

Liana Romulo writes a story about a Filipino-American boy "Sam" who visits the Philippines for the first time, with illustrations by Corazon Dandan-Albano. The target audience is native English-speaking children who are interested in the cultures of the Philippines. On each page, arranged by theme, different Philippine customs are described through narration of Sam's trip, with key vocabulary words boldfaced. Some thematic topics include weather, family members, food, and games. While some readers might prefer a book which includes representations of other regional groups of the Philippines or representations of people with different physical abilities or skin tones, other readers seeking pleasing images and generalizable Tagalog group identity markers should find this work to be affirmative and supportive for young readers.