TYPE & SUBTYPE: Traditional Literature, Myth

Title: Mga Anak ng Araw

Author:

Rene O. Villanueva

Illustrator: Ruben de Jesus

Publisher: Lampara Publishing House, Inc.
Place and Date of Publication: Manila, Philippines, 2002
No. of Pages: 32
Awards Received: None
Summary:
In the beginning, as Bathala was creating the world, He decided to create man for a
bird named tigmamanukin only accompanied him. One night He made the first pair
of man and woman from the flesh of bamboo. The first pair was so happy for the
given life but tigmamanukin teased them that they dont have their color.
Tigmamanukin told them that he will bring them to Mother Sun. Mother Sun gave
them color as she rises in the morning so the rays of morning touched their skin.
Then, Bathala made another pair at the riverbank where He got some mud and
formed another pair. They didnt have color also, so they were brought to Mother
sun again by tigmamanukin. Noontime, Mother sun touched them with a hot strand
of light so their color was brown. It was already dusk when he decided to do the
third pair of human beings which were being formed from rocks. Same thing
happened to them so Mother sun cast upon them a ray of twilight for it was already
setting in the west. The next morning, the three pairs: White, Brown, and Black met
in the river. They accepted each other as brothers and sisters and happily, together,
they went into the water.
Remarks:
The book was all about how the different kinds of people today were being made by
Bathala before and what role did Mother sun play in that issue. It was written for us
to be reminded that we are born in the same reason. One creator made us. No
matter how our looks differ from one another, we are all brothers and sisters. It also
wants to convey that color doesnt define who you are and doesnt give you any
edge from the others because all of us were just given life by Bathala and were just
given color by Mother sun. Another noteworthy on this work is that it also gives
importance to how we should accept others despite our differences as well as be
proud of what we have because these were only given to us. Just looking at the
illustrations, without reading the texts, a reader can easily grasp what the author
wanted to convey. I believe the story is very known, from the past generations to

todays, and is still able to get people believe and live with the values it carries. And
with that, I believe, makes it a book worth recommending to other people.