Where Are My Legs?

Our latest children's book about the manananggal.

Sometime in 2023, while scrolling through Instagram, I came across a painting that immediately stopped me in my tracks. It was a classical, Renaissance-style oil painting, but instead of a saint or a nobleman, the subject was a manananggal. It was unexpected, eerie, and beautiful. So I reached out to the artist right away to ask if it was available.

That was how I met Nat Lamina, a Filipino-Canadian artist based in Manitoba. His work is shaped by a classical Western aesthetic (think Old Masters), but his subjects are drawn from Philippine mythology, religion, and everyday culture. Born and raised in the Philippines, Nat blends European technique with Southeast Asian stories in a way that feels both familiar and entirely new.

Around the same time, we at CANVAS had been reflecting on the direction of our children’s books. Through the years, we’ve been very proud of the titles that have come out of our Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Writing Competition. But we realized that most of those books tended to appeal to slightly older readers or children in the 8 to 12 age range.

We wanted to do more for younger readers aged 5 to 8 years - children just learning to read on their own, or being read to by their parents or teachers. That meant that we needed stories that had shorter texts, and simpler plots, and that would allow for more space for the illustrations to carry the story.

So we adjusted the competition rules - we brought down the maximum word limit from 800 to just 300, and we introduced a new element: an early conversation by our books and design teams with the writer and the artist to align on the direction of the book’s development and make it consistent with our own vision of publishing books for younger readers.

At every step, we were clear that the art must remain true to the artist’s vision. These are not commissioned works with strict briefs. They are independent artworks that will also be exhibited and sold. That’s how we are able to fund not only the publication of each book, but also the printing of thousands of free copies that we give away as part of our One Million Books for One Million Children campaign. So while the illustrations need to work within the story, but they also have to individually stand on their own as artworks. And most importantly, they need to be something the artist is proud of.

I asked Nat - would he be open to becoming our next Romeo Forbes book artist, and can we use this image as the contest piece? He readily agreed.

Now, if you look at the painting, you might wonder how we ever thought it could become a children’s book. A manananggal? Isn’t this image a bit disturbing? Is it really appropriate for kids?

We’ve heard similar concerns with some of our past contest pieces. For example, our first contest piece, this Elmer Borlongan work also raised eyebrows. The horse was too scary, some said, and the image itself is not really for children.

Then and now, we decided to trust the process, our artists, and the writers. Our process was the major reason why, modesty aside, our books have a unique CANVAS character, and are widely recognized as among the most beautiful in the country. “Coffeetable books for children” is how one prominent children’s books advocate once described them. By trusting, we were hoping and believing that something surprising and meaningful would ultimately emerge.

We have never been disappointed. The book that resulted from Borlongan’s contest piece “The Rocking Horse” - even with its very sad theme about loss and coping (the mother dies at the start, and main character, a little boy named Chisco, also passes away at the end) was a critical and commercial success. All the paintings and books all sold out, and the book went on to win the Gintong Aklat Award that year.

In this latest edition, we received over 180 entries, and the winning story was “Where Are My Legs?” by Leonard John Banaag. The title alone hints at what you’re in for. As we had hoped, we found a special tale - one that manages to be funny, curious, and whimsical, while gently introducing young readers to characters from Philippine folklore that are often thought of as frightening.

The illustrations, a sampling of which are shared below, are extraordinary. We hope that children of all ages - not just the younger readers we had in mind - will find something to enjoy, wonder at, and maybe even giggle about.

“Where Are My Legs?” opens both as a book launch and an art exhibition on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 4:00 PM, at the UP College of Fine Arts Gallery in Diliman. Hope to see you all then and there!