Jose Aruego Roundup

When I was in third grade, our class was sent to the audio-visual room for a storytelling session of the picture book Juan and the Asuangs. The story was frightfully fascinating — a young boy named Juan outsmarts several asuangs, which are Philippine mythical creatures, often of the blood-sucking variety. I have not seen that book in about fifteen years, but I still remember one particular spread: Juan defeats the manananggal (a female asuang who is usually in human form until sunset, when she sprouts leathery wings, tears her torso away from her lower half, and hunts for her next bloody meal) by grinding up some bawang (garlic) and siling labuyo (small chili peppers) and pouring the paste into the cavity of the creature’s lower half.

To this day, that story still stands out in my memory, but there’s another reason why: our class met Jose Aruego right then and there!

I remember a funny guy who passed around some paper, instructed us to take our pencils out, and voila — it was an art workshop! He taught us to draw different animals using numbers, and I even remember a couple of tricks he taught us:

Of course, in third grade I had no idea just how lucky I was to have met one of the most successful Filipino illustrators of all time. It wasn’t until I was taking illustration courses and doing my college thesis that I realized that he was one of my earliest artistic influences.

I’ve been searching high and low for a copy of Juan and the Asuangs but I haven’t gotten lucky yet. But over the last few years, I’ve slowly been collecting his books, and now I have a grand total of five out of his repertoire of dozens (most of them illustrated with Ariane Dewey — he apparently draws and she colors). Three of them I found in bargain bins all last year, so here’s a quick roundup.

Look What I Can Do, written and illustrated by Jose Aruego, paperback

The Philippine proverb “A carabao who herds with a fence jumper becomes a fence jumper too,” introduces this humorous romp featuring two carabaos (water buffalos). The carabao are trying to outdo one another: “Look what I can do!” / “I can do it too!” as they do handstands, turtle-balancing acts, log rolling, until they accidentally jump off a cliff into the raging rapids and they breathlessly swim to safety.

The ending is hilarious: as they exhaustedly collapse on the riverbank, a third carabao joins them and quips, “Look what I can do!” which prompts the two carabao to jump on the third carabao in exasperation!

The book has very few words — yes, only those phrases above — but the visual narrative packs a wild adventure and a whole lot of laughs.

5/5 stars

Mushroom in the Rain by Mirra Ginsburg, pictures by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey, paperback

An ant seeking shelter from the rain spies a tiny mushroom and crawls under it. But other woodland creatures are seeking shelter, too, and begs him to share his makeshift umbrella: a butterfly, a mouse, a sparrow, and even a rabbit who is hiding from a fox! Surprisingly, they all manage to fit inside the mushroom (and fool the fox into thinking a rabbit can’t possibly fit inside) until the sun comes out, and an amused frog points out the secret of the mushroom.

It’s a simple story that’s actually adapted from a Russian tale, but the illustrations add humor to the situation. And yeah, I didn’t know that mushrooms grow drastically with heavy rain!

3/5 stars

A Crocodile’s Tale: A Philippine Folk Story by Jose and Ariane Aruego, paperback

Little Juan frees a crocodile tied to a tree after the animal promises him a reward. But much to Juan’s dismay, the sly crocodile threatens to eat him once they are out on the river. In an attempt to reason with the crocodile, Juan asks advice from a ratty old basket and a tattered hat, but they side with the crocodile, as their human owners have discarded them after many years of service. Finally, as they come close to the riverbank, a clever monkey on a banana tree helps Juan escape the crocodile’s clutches, although it comes at another price: the promise to plant more banana trees!

It’s a story about gratitude and keeping your word, and I love that there was Philippine folklore in the international market in the 70s. of course, the landscape in the book is a far cry from today’s urban jungle, but it’s a wonderful depiction of the way life used to be (and actually, the way it still is in some parts of the country).

4/5 stars

Another Mouse to Feed by Robert Kraus, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey, paperback

Mr. and Mrs. Mouse are harried and overworked to feed their brood of little mice. Mrs. Mouse works as a skating instructor, while Mr. Mouse works three jobs: roadside construction worker, chef, and bookkeeper. When a baby mouse is left at their doorstep, Mr. and Mrs. Mouse do not have the heart to turn it away, so they take on more jobs. Relief comes when the mouse kids decide to pitch in — the older kids get after-school jobs while the younger ones pitch in with the chores and take care of the baby, and the money comes rolling in.

Hahaha, this is a book all parents should give their kids for a well-meaning nudge in the right direction. Awesome detail too, in depicting the various mousy occupations.

4/5 stars

Milton the Early Riser by Robert Kraus, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey, hardcover

Milton is a little panda who wakes up early, but the rest of the animals are still asleep. Bored, he watches television and plays around, jumping and dancing and cartwheeling in the attempt to wake up the other animals. When he decides to sing, the mountains quake and the trees tremble, and a strong wind throws the whole woodland topsy turvy with animals comically flung all over the but still they’re all asleep.

Because he has nothing else to do, Milton decides to put things back into place, so he rearranges the animals into their proper sleeping positions, and then promptly falls asleep from exhaustion. Then the other animals start waking up, without a clue of what just happened, and chuckle that Milton is such a sleepyhead!

I really love this book; it’s my absolute favorite out of this bunch. The book establishes that early morning atmosphere, you know, when everyone else is still asleep (I used to be an early riser myself when I was a kid — ha, unfortunately, not anymore!) and you’re thinking up things to do while waiting for someone to wake up. And Milton is such a sympathetic character, it’s a challenge not to feel sorry for him! It’s also a lot of fun to spot all the animals in this book.

5/5 stars

I’m normally not a fan of animal books, but Aruego’s animals are adorable because they’re not trying to be cute. And they really have a comic quality that will have you grinning, and even laughing out loud, when you see them. I also love the fact that he inserts little Filipino references in the illustrations, either with a Filipino story, or animals from the Philippines.

The sad thing is it’s hard to find Jose Aruego books, especially those from the 70s and 80s, as they’re mostly out of print. I’ll have to keep trawling through the bargain bins to build up this collection, but it’ll definitely be rewarding each time I find another one.

***

Books # 181-185 for 2010

[amazonify]::omakase::300:250[/amazonify]