It was probably the most innovative setup so far for a read-along session conducted by the Inquirer Southern Luzon since 2008 when the bureau started telling stories to children in the provinces it covers.
Two groups of youngsters gathered separately to listen to stories on Nov. 26 in Concepcion Peque帽a, the largest barangay in Naga City with a population of some 23,000.
Fifty preschoolers, aged 4 to 6 years, sat on the floor of the airconditioned room of the day care center, a few steps from a covered basketball court where 150 Grades 5 and 6 pupils occupied plastic monobloc chairs. All of them are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Helping the Inquirer set up the novel arrangement in celebration of the United Nations鈥� Declaration of Children鈥檚 Rights were the barangay and city officials, officers and staff members of the DSWD, and teachers.
Mayor John Bongat read 鈥淧utot,鈥� a tale written by Mike Bigornia and illustrated by Charles Funk, to the preschoolers. Simultaneously, at the covered court, beauty queen Venus Raj read 鈥淭iktaktok at Pikpakbum,鈥� a book written by Rene Villanueva with sketches by Renato Gamus.
The two storytellers later switched audiences.
Raj, who placed fourth runner-up in the 2010 Miss Universe tilt, traces her roots to Bato, Camarines Sur, and has been named the DSWD鈥檚 Ambassadress for Children鈥檚 Rights and Welfare.
Barangay councilman Joel Barrios, chair of the community鈥檚 education committee, observed that the two reading sessions were different in many ways but effective.
The pupils gamely participated in the question-and-answer portion after Raj managed to make them recite the names of her story鈥檚 main characters.
The beauty queen described Pikpakbum as a mischievous dog compared to the behaved and well-mannered Tiktaktok, but she stopped reading the part where the author said, 鈥淭iktaktok loved milk, vegetables and egg while Pikpakbum was fond of soft drinks, chocolates and candies.鈥�
鈥淲hat do you eat in school?鈥� Raj asked Grade 5 pupil Leandro. In all candor, the boy answered that he pools the P5 his parents give him as allowance with those of his classmates so they can buy 鈥渃hichiriya鈥� (junk food) during recess.
This simply meant that the lesson imparted by the story of the siblings Tiktaktok and Pikpakbum was not lost on them. Although having different traits, the two continue to help each other, especially during difficult times. (Pikpakbum was almost poisoned by a piece of spoiled meat he found on the street; Tiktaktok and the butcher made Pikpakbum vomit the meat).
Bongat talked about the travails of a dog born with a short tail. Even as he found difficulty pronouncing Putot, the dog鈥檚 name, the mayor kept the children glued to his narration as story pictures flashed on the videoscreen behind him.
During the Q and A, one of the young listeners especially remembered the worm from among the animals Putot envied. In the story, the worm wailed to Putot his story of being born with all tail but 鈥渘o ears, no nose, no feet so I am more cursed than you are.鈥�