7 Philippine folktales, stories and legends for kids

- There are many indigenous tribe across the Philippine Islands

- That's why Philippines is rich with lots of folklores

- Many folktales and legends are suited for the kids

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed!

Philippines has a lot of indigenous tribe. Therefore, our country is rich with Filipino folklore stories. There are many Filipino folktales and famous Philippine legends that have been told throughout the years and have been taught in Philippine literature.

KAMI has listed 7 examples of famous Philippine folktales stories or narratives well-suited for kids as reported by Smart Parenting:

1. The Monkey and the Turtle

The Monkey and the Turtle is a perfect example of folktale short story written by Philippine national hero Jose Rizal. The story focuses on the monkey and turtle who started as friends. They both saw a floating banana plant on the water. They thought of splitting it so they could plan it. The monkey chose the upper part of the plant for he thought it was better. Meanwhile, the turtle got the bottom part with the roots so he grew an abundant plant. Since the turtle couldn’t climb the tree to get the fruits, he asked the monkey to get it for him. Instead, the monkey betrayed the turtle and ate every fruit. The turtle planned a revenge to him which ended to the monkey’s death. The friends of the monkey also planned a revenge but they did not win over the turtle.

2. Why the Fish has Scales

The Girl Who Turned into a Fish and Other Classic Philippine Water Tales as narrated by Maria Elena Paterno. This Filipino folktale talks about a beautiful girl who grew up being vain and spoiled. She was admiring her beauty by the river when the chief of crabs adored her beauty and spoke to her. She was shocked and shoved away the crab. In return, the chief scratched her face and cursed her to become a fish with many scales.

3. The Story of Piña

Why the Piña has a Hundred Eyes as narrated by Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz depicts the folktale about Pinang, an adorable yet lazy girl. The time came when her mother asked her to cook which she ignored at first. When she finally agreed to do it, she could not find the ladle. Her frustrated mother hoped that Pinang could grow hundred eyes for being lazy and so that she could find everything. Later on, Pinang disappeared and then a yellow fruit with hundred eyes grew in their backyard.

4. Mother Mountain

The Mother Mountain talks about a widow who lived with her two daughters that want nothing but to play. The mother asked her daughters to prepare their dinner as soon as she finishes work. By the time the mother came home, the daughters were not there so she cooked the dinner herself. As soon as the daughters came home, they saw their mother preparing dinner and yet decided to play again. The mother got frustrated and left the house. It was late night and the daughters followed her. Little do they know that their mother turned into a shape of mountain called Mt. Iraya.

PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data!

5. The Necklace and the Comb

The Necklace and the Comb tells the story of Inday who adored her necklace and comb. She was given these as family heirloom during her sixteenth birthday. She would keep with her the necklace and comb even while working so to avoid spoiling them, she put those on the cloud. Her necklace and comb went up later on with the sky. Time came, the comb became the quarter moon and then the necklace turned into the stars.

6. The Carabao and the Shell

The Carabao and the Shell from Mabel Cook Cole’s Philippine Folk Tales talks about the race that happened between the carabao and the shell. The carabao thought of the shell to be very slow. When the race began, the carabao went for a long distance, he shouted “shell”, and then another shell answered. He went on and on, and every time he shouts to find shell, another shell would answer. Carabao was determined to win the race so he kept on running until he got exhausted and died.

7. The Man with the Coconuts

Another Philippine folktale from Mabel Cook Cole is the Man with the Coconuts. It narrates the story about a man who gathered his coconuts and loaded it to his horse. He asked a boy how long it would take for him to go home. “If you go slowly, you will arrive very soon, but if you go fast, it will take you all day,” said the boy and the man found it strange. So he hurried his horse and every time he does this, the coconuts would fall. He was able to reach home when it was already night time.

Philippines tricky questions: can you answer these tricky questions? Today we are going to ask the Philippines strangers some very funny Tagalog tricky questions! Kaano-Ano Ni Coco Martin SI Carmi Martin? This questions might sound easy, but in reality, they are pretty tricky and it is easy to make a mistake! – on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh