Ikapati, Maria Cacao, Nuno sa Punso & other tales from the islands

If there's one children's book that adults ought to read, it should be Drawn from the Islands (From the Pens of SKP: Tales from the Archipelago).

- BUM D. TENORIO, JR.

If there's one children's book that adults ought to read, it should be Drawn from the Islands (From the Pens of SKP: Tales from the Archipelago). Direct and honest, as all books for young ones should be, the vibrant contemporary comic book retells Philippine myths and folklore from the pen of experienced vanguards of culture to the hearts of the modern-day minds.

Drawn from the Islands is a repository of Pinoy legends — "Alamat ng Piña," "Alamat ng Bayabas," "Alamat ng Kasoy," "Alamat ng Bulkang Mayon," "Alamat ng Kwago" — illustrated beautifully by the Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas (SKP), whose members are legendary.

Think of Tonton Young, Chong Ardivilla, Ed Padilla, Steph Bravo among others. But before them, there was National Artist for Visual Arts Larry Alcala, a pioneering figure who helped establish SKP in 1978 to be the professional organization of Filipino editorial cartoonists, comic strip artists and illustrators. The organization continues to uphold cartooning as a vital form of social commentary and a creative graphic expression in the country.