A Roof!
by Stephanie Ellen Sy; illus. by Daniel Tingcungco
Primary    Kokila/Penguin    40 pp.
9/24    9780593697054    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780593697061    $10.99

Following a typhoon in the Philippines, Maya discovers a corrugated metal roof that has fallen into her yard. Maya and Tatay (her father) embark on a journey to return the thin roof, folded up “like a lumpia,” to its owners. Along the way, Maya and Tatay witness the aftermath of the massive storm: a swollen river, fallen trees, and, eventually, a house missing part of its roof. They also meet people who are eager to help: “a sapatero, some pearl divers, a pig breeder, a labandera,” and more. Tingcungco’s digital mixed-media art with thick, densely saturated brushstrokes illustrates the beauty of the Philippines and of community as well as the gravity and destructiveness of natural disasters. Readers are introduced to the biodiverse landscapes of the islands, their waterfalls, mountains, and giant palms and ferns; as well as species native to the land, including carabao, fiddler crab, needle fish, and egrets. The dramatic perspectives—on top of the roof, in the depths of the woods, underwater—evoke in readers a feeling of being part of the mission to reunite the roof with its family. In an author’s note, Sy explains this feeling, bayanihan, or being in community. Also appended are illustrated translations of the professions named earlier in Tagalog of those who helped along the way.

From the ">November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.