Kulay: Breathing Colour into Philippine Children’s Books
Panel Danielle Florendo, Fran Alvarez, Jaime Bauza, Liza Flores | Moderator: Daniel Lorenzo Mariano
Illustrations set the tone, the atmosphere, and the mood of a children’s book. As the primal instrument of a children’s book creator, how does an artist convey emotion through movement, space and colour?
Three Filipino illustrators discuss their processes—the good, the bad, and everything in between—in creating empathetic stories for kids.
storytelling publishing picture book illustration curiosity book development identity spaces editing creativity
Danielle Florendo (Philippines)
Danielle Florendo is an illustrator currently based in Baguio City. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines Baguio and pursued a career in children’s book illustration. She has illustrated published titles under Ilaw ng Tahanan Inc., OMFLIT Hiyas Publishing, and Kado Publishing. She currently teaches Fine Arts at the college level. Her primary medium is watercolour with applied digital collaging.
Fran Alvarez (Philippines)
Fran Alvarez is an award-winning illustrator from the Philippines. She draws for children’s books, brand projects, and personal experiments using traditional and digital media. Her recognitions include the Ezra Jack Keats Award Illustrator Honor and the ALA Schneider Family Book Award Honour for Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language, the Green Island Award at the Nami Concours for Fishing with Jin, and the Philippine National Children’s Book Award-Best Reads for Hating Kapatid.
Jaime Bauza (Philippines)
Jamie is an illustrator, crafter, and picture book maker from Manila. She has worked on more than a dozen books, including Ang Dangkal ni Matmat (Tahanan Books, 2022) and Magtanim ay Di Biro (Adarna House, 2021) for which she received a National Children’s Book Award. Working with a range of materials, her work is inspired by childhood, nature, and everyday life with her two cats. For more of her work, visit www.jamiebauza.com.
Liza Flores (Philippines)
Liza is one of the leading children’s book illustrators in the Philippines. Her books, The Secret is in the Soil (2012), and Ang Maliit na Kalabaw (The Tiny Carabao) (2021) have been included in the National Children’s Book Award Best Reads for 2012-2013 and 2020-2021. She mentors illustrators from different countries through Room to Read, an international nonprofit organisation.
Liza also runs Studio Dialogo, a graphic design studio in Manila. She designed the book, KarapatDapat (2018), which was included in The White Ravens list in 2020.
Moderator Daniel Lorenzo Mariano (Philippines)
Daniel works as a Project Development Officer III and OIC Division Chief at the Readership Development Division of the National Book Development Board (NBDB), spearheading flagship reading engagement projects such as the Book Nook Project and the Read for Empowerment and Advancement (READ) Campaign. He revels in writing Filipino creative nonfiction and conducting research in literary criticisms and language studies, particularly in orthography development.
Programme dates and times are subject to change.