This blog is about a set of ten seafarer children’s books that came out recently. The brainchild of Marissa Oca Robles, these books are dedicated to seafarers’ children all over the world.
To know more about a particular book, click on the corresponding numbered tab at the top or on the Page number on the right.
01 LOST AT SEA
02 SEE, I’M HOLDING DADDY’S HAND
03 A BOAT, A BANANA AND A SMILE
04 JEREMY’S MAGIC WELL
05 JUDITH AND THE KING OF THE SEA
06 A TALE OF TONG-ITS
07 QUINTIN AND HIS VIOLIN
08 THE PERFECT PRESENT
09 THE FIRST DAY
10 WHY UNCLE MARTIN CAN’T FIX MY BIKE
The corresponding pages will be completed as each book is printed.
ABOUT THE BOOKS AND THE PUBLISHER
These books are part of the Gig Seafarer Children’s Stories series. They are published by Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. (GASFI), a nonprofit organization founded and headed by Marissa Oca Robles.
GASFI is driven by Marissa’s three passions: honoring the memory and youthful spirit of her son Gig, promoting the reading habit among children and their parents, and serving the needs of Filipino seamen’s families.
The first has to do with turning the loss of a loved one into life-affirming action. When her son died in an accident, Marissa founded GASFI to celebrate his love for books, his tender affection for sampaguita flowers, and his frequent use of the word “amazing” to describe his life and almost everything in it.
The second is about kindling and sustaining a life-long love for reading among children and their families. “Twenty Minutes At Bedtime” is not only GASFI’s slogan, it is also the minimum amount of time, Marissa believes, that parents should set aside everyday to read with their children.
The third is Marissa’s special contribution to her family’s cause: the welfare of Filipino seamen. Her father Captain Gregorio S. Oca laid the cornerstone when he founded the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (Amosup). Marissa builds upon it by running seamen’s villages, hospitals, schools and libraries throughout the country.
When you read and share one of these books, you join an ever-expanding circle that gathers round people and things that warm the cockles of our hearts: our children, books and reading, and the strength and resilience of families – especially where the father is mostly away at sea.
MORE ABOUT THE BOOKS
Each book is based on a prize-winning story, one of ten winners of the Gig Book Storywriting Contest conducted by GASFI in 2009. Close to 150 stories were submitted for the contest. The ten best stories were selected and edited for publication by publisher and children’s author Karina Africa Bolasco, book reviewer and children’s author Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, and Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo. Book design, art direction, and pre-press production by Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo, color separations by iColours, printing by Raintree Trading & Publishing, Inc.
Page size: 18.5 x 11 inches
Number of pages: 24
Binding: Softcover, Saddle-stitched
Cover: Full color, Foldcote Cal. 15 with plastic lamination
Inside: Full color, Matte 120 lbs.
CONTACT US
Marissa Oca Robles, President
Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. (GASFI)
Suite 600 The Gregorian, 2178 Taft Avenue
Malate, Manila 1004 Philippines
Tel. Manila (632) 400-4933 or (632)353-1267 local 826,
Cavite (6346)9730370, Mobile (63915) 346 6251
E-mail: gigfoundation@gmail.com
Website: http://www.gasfi.com
Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo
Executive Editor & Book Designer
Gig Seafarer Children’s Stories
E-mail: taguiwalo8888@yahoo.com
Mobile: 0917-787-4956
Header image: Detail from Wild Sea Breaking On The Rocks
(Ando Hiroshige, 1797-1858) from visipix.com
All other images copyright © 2010 by Gig and the
Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. (GASFI)
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Seafarer Children's Books 