Developing your child’s early reading habits is helpful for their growth and development. There is a variety of story books written in Tagalog or Filipino language that you can read with your kid. Read this article to know more about story book tagalog that you can enjoy reading with your children.
Reading activity is a good relationship builder between parent and child. It promotes good communication and boosts your kid’s imagination. In this article, we compiled the seven best Tagalog story book that you can read with your child.
Benefits of reading Tagalog story books to your child
Reading Tagalog storybooks can help your child have a deeper grasp and wider vocabulary of the Filipino language. In addition, Filipino children’s books promote culture, beliefs, tradition, and good Filipino values to young readers.
Aside from that, there are lots of developmental benefits reading a book can give your child. As early as your child is an infant, reading books with them has a lot of benefits for their growth.
1. Listening skills
Reading a story aloud to your kid can help develop their listening skills. When you read Tagalog storybooks aloud they will give attention to what you are reading and try to understand the story. That can also exercise their comprehension. According to Healthline, developing your child’s listening skills is the first step in encouraging them to read by themselves.
2. Language development and expanded vocabulary
According to the research stated in the Healthline article, activities that involve verbal interaction such as talking and reading promote higher language and IQ scores in young readers.
Reading Tagalog storybooks to your kid helps them learn more about our local language. It is also beneficial for those kids whose first language is English. Reading Filipino children’s stories can help them understand the Filipino language and how to pronounce and use certain Tagalog words in a sentence.
3. Attention span
Regular reading activities help expand your child’s attention span. Listening to the story you are reading gets them to focus and comprehend. It also encourages the development of their memory-retention skills
4. Creativity and imagination
It is natural for kids to have a wide and vivid imagination. Opening a book and reading with them opens another world for their mind. When you do regular reading activities, it can boost your child’s creativity.
Eventually, you may notice that they are starting to create their own imaginary story or an alternate ending for the stories you’ve read with them. Creativity is essential as your child develops interests and ideas. That is good for their emotional and mental health.
5. Social and emotional development
Reading makes your kid understand other people’s emotions and situations as much as their own. It can help them develop empathy. Aside from that, reading can also teach your kid how to react properly and cope with different stressful events in their lives.
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7 Tagalog story books to read with your child
We compiled seven Filipino children's story books that your child will surely love. These books can open their mind to different ideas, cultures, words, and lessons that can benefit their growth and development.
1. Story book tagalog: Masaya Ako! By Yasmin Doctor
Published in 2013, 'Masaya Ako!' By Yasmin Doctor is a Filipino children’s book about emotions. It is a bilingual storybook for toddlers where the story is narrated in English and Tagalog or Filipino.
This book is ideal for kids whose first language is English. It can be easy for them to understand and learn the Filipino version of the story while using the English version as a guide.
In general, you can use this book as a tool to introduce to your kid the different emotions and how to cope with them.
2. Story book tagalog: Maliliit na Gagamba by Dani Go
The Tagalog story book 'Maliliit na Gagamba' by Dani Go narrates the story of Itsy-Bitsy Spider – a popular nursery rhyme about spiders that face struggles because of the rain.
You can introduce both Tagalog and English versions of this story to your kid. You can also sing it with them for a more interactive story-telling.
This Filipino story book can help you introduce the concept of problem-solving to your kid. You can also teach them that there can be bad days as there can be good days.
3. Si Langgam at si Tipaklong by Virgilio Almario
One of the most popular Filipino children’s stories, this fable narrates the story of an ant and a grasshopper. The ant collects and stores food as a preparation for the rainy season.
Meanwhile, the grasshopper is just wasting its time and always whining that it has no time to store food whenever the ant asks for help. As expected, the rain pours, and the ant has food to eat while the grasshopper has no food.
This Tagalog story book can help you teach your child about good values. In addition, you can use this as a tool to teach them the importance of spending their time wisely and preparing for important matters.
4. Ang Alamat ng Pinya by Boots Pastor
The Filipino children’s story 'Ang Alamat ng Pinya' is about a lazy girl. She hates helping her mom do the household chores. Whenever her mom asks her to look for something in the house, she tells her mom that she cannot find it even before she looks for it. Because of this, Pinang, the lazy girl was punished and cursed to be a pineapple.
This Tagalog story book can help you teach your child about the importance of listening to their parents and the negative effects of being lazy.
5. Isang Harding Papel by Augie Rivera
This Tagalog storybook narrates the life of a girl named Jenny during the Martial Law era in the Philippines. She creates paper flowers while waiting for her mom to come home.
Jenny and her separation from her mom during the time of Martial Law leads her to ask how long will she continue to make a garden of paper flowers. This story can help you introduce history to your kid in a way that they can easily understand.
6. Story book tagalog: Ang Pambihirang Sombrero by Jomike Tejido
This Filipino children’s story is about Koko, a boy with a magical hat. Whenever he wears his hat, he gets a gold coin. But the magic of it has a consequence. Every time he uses the hat, his height decreases.
Your child can learn about decision-making and the importance of thinking before deciding. You can teach them that their unwise decision may lead to negative consequences.
7. Story book tagalog: Juan Tamad by Manuel and Lyd Arguilla
This book tells the story of a boy named Juan. Juan is lazy. Instead of picking the guava from the tree, he just lies on the ground and waits for the fruit to fall into his mouth.
This story has been around generations teaching young children the importance of perseverance and the negative effects of laziness.
It is never too early to teach a child to pick a book and read. It is also important to be a role model to your kid. Mommy and daddy, if your child sees you are reading, they may also develop an interest in reading.