Bookmark launches A Sea of Stories collection for WWF’s Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Eco-region Programme

The Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Eco-region (SSME) spans the bountiful seas of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is considered the global center for marine diversity that includes the Coral Triangle. This area spans a million square kilometers of land and sea. About 40 million people depend on its biodiversity for their livelihood.

Bookmark Inc. and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) partnered to produce A Sea of Stories, a collection of books written by Carla Pacis, which feature tales that showcase the rich culture of the Sulu Sea area and to highlight the importance of marine conservation.

The collection of stories was written for WWF’s SSME Programme with the goal to educate children on the beauty, fragility and importance of SSME seas. The books also aim to inspire adults to conserve and protect the rich coastal resources of the Philippines.

Carla M. Pacis, the collection's author, is a professor at De La Salle University where she teaches art, literature and creative writing. She won a PBBY-Salanga Writer’s Prize in 1998 and a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in 1995.

A Sea of Stories includes: 

• The Jin and the Turtle, illustrated by Jeanne P. Tan, which talks about the sad plight of sea turtles in the Sulu Sea and WWF efforts to save them 
• Dragon Boat, illustrated by Edrick Raymond T. Daniel, tells of the boat-making skills of the Tausug people and the virtue of patience
• Mapun, illustrated by Jose T. Gamboa and Herbert Miguel I. Consunji, talks about declining marine resources in the Sulu Sea and the conservation of sea turtles, some of which saved the lives of fishermen 
• Grandmother’s Gift, illustrated by Seth Clarece T. Estacio, narrates the hard life of families in the area, their mat-making industry, and a grandmother’s sacrifice to part with her treasured mat for the education of her granddaughter 
• Manta Ray Journey, illustrated by Lloyd F. Niguidula, is a folktale about the Badjao people and how they came to live in the different islands of the Sulu Sea, while touching on giant manta rays and the issue of diminishing marine resources.

The original illustrations were exhibited and were up for sale during the book launch last February 8 at the Manila Polo Club in Makati, while the author and artists took time out to sign books.

For more information, please contact Bookmark at +02.895.8061-65, email: bookmark@globelines.com.ph or visit the website www.bookmarkthefilipinobookstore.com.