Dear friends,


When I was little, my parents always spoke to me in their native dialect of Tagalog. It wasn’t until I started grade school that I would come home feeling embarrassed about my accent when speaking English. My mom has a vivd memory of me asking that she stop speaking to me in Tagalog, and to start speaking to me in English - which is painful to think about all these years later.

Raised between two worlds, two cultures, it's inevitable to feel like you don’t belong somewhere, completely. There’s a constant tug-o-war of identity. There’s questioning of how much you love yourself and where you come from.


Watching my nieces and nephews grow up around my parents, and their grandparents, made me realize how much all the silly little language games and traditions brought so much joy into our lives. It also gave me an understanding as to how much closer the kids must feel to their heritage because of it. Through our parents, you learn how incredibly special it is to have a connection to your ancestral language, even if just through the simple act of speaking a few words. You begin to understand how language does more than simply communicate, it adds depth to the stories of our families. It keeps the spirits and memories alive. And maybe, if you're feeling like me, you feel this deep, particular urge to keep connecting, keep speaking, and celebrating our families’ culture and traditions.

What started as a means of breaking creative tension for me, switching up my medium from designing kids clothes, slowly turned into co-creating an entire kids coloring book with my mother. I still design kids clothes too! I’ve always wanted to publish a book for kids, little did I know it would lead me to teaching kids the Tagalog alphabet in a new, fun, creative way! The same alphabet my mom learned when she was young.



During our journey creating this coloring book, we noticed there weren't many Tagalog language books for kids that did all of these things in one place: taught the Tagalog alphabet using everyday words paired with illustrations to color, included phonetic pronunciations, and incorporated English translations. 

This is a proper learning tool in many ways! And I love how we kept the pages single-sided so kids can clip them out and hang up their work on the fridge or walls of the home! :)


This is our heartfelt gift to you and your family. It’s the kind of coloring book I feel like my cousins and I would’ve loved to have as kids. A little something to keep our culture growing and knowing. And as your kids color and practice saying the words out loud, I hope they feel happy, proud, and more connected to the Philippines. The place our families call home.


With love,

Reina