White Ravens’99/Philippines/77842
Arcellana, Francisco (text) 
 Alègrè, Hermès (illus.)
 The mats
 Makati City: Tahanan Books for 
 Young Readers, 1997. [32pp]
 ISBN 971-630-079-4 (paperback)
 Childhood memories - Gift - Death - Memory
 This is an adaptation of a classic story first published in 1938 by the Philippine’s National Artist for
 Literature when he was only 22 years old. It is a moving story told in the first person about an incident in a
 girl’s family. The gift of specially-made mats which are brought back from a business trip helps reveal to
 the narrator her father’s love for all his children, and his sorrow for those already dead. The painterly,
 stylized illustrations by a young artist, Hermès Alègrè (*1968), are done in bright, rich colors which
 capture the love and warmth of close family life. (6+)

Backward      Forward      Countries