Recent books received

Make that books received over the holidays: quite a number. Here’s citing a few.

The Magic of Play: Children Heal Through Play Therapy by our lifelong friend Dr. Lourdes “Honey” Arellano Carandang had its initial launch on Nov. 5 at De La Salle University on Taft Avenue, Manila. Dr. Caring Tarroja had simply invited Dr. Honey to give a talk to one of her undergrad Psychology classes, but it became a big event when the class decided to open it to anyone else interested. Since the book still had to be formally launched by its publisher Anvil, the class ordered advanced copies and billed the activity as a “Talk and Book Signing with Dr. Honey.”

The turnout was a pleasant surprise, with over 200 DLSU professors, undergrad and grad students and other guests coming to hear Dr. Honey share her experiences in pioneering and doing Play Therapy in the Philippines for more than 20 years. She also asked her team that had contributed to the book to share its own experiences, particularly in the area of Child-Directed Play, which is Honey’s expertise. A rewarding discussion followed and the event climaxed with a song from the author’s son Chris, then photo ops with the author as she autographed copies.

On Nov. 25, the eve of the lady author’s birthday, the formal launch was conducted at Bestsellers at Robinson’s Galleria. Family (extended, naturally) and friends made it a double celebration. Honey’s husband Dr. Brigido Carandang brought in additional food and beer to turn it into a real birthday party.

Emceeing the proceedings was their celebrity son, outstanding TV journalist Ricky Carandang. Honey and her team replicated their sharing of experiences. This time, joining in was a special guest, nine-year-old Isabel Padilla — whose “words of wisdom” from Play Therapy sessions were read aloud by the author. One of Honey’s staff psychologists and students, Marisa Marin, and her son Chris also shared songs in relation to their experience of doing Play Therapy with the author.  

Prominent guests included Gilda Cordero Fernando, Ceres Doyo, CB Garrucho, Peanuts Pañares, Nena Alcuaz Reyes, Alma Quinto, Wally Ledesma, Naty Dayan, Miren Intal, Lota Teh, Honey’s sister Agnes Arellano and brother Deo Arellano, cousins Marissa Almario Coe and Jelly Isaac, and former students who have themselves set off on a path of success similar to Honey’s.

The book, Honey’s 12th title, features case studies of real children in Play Therapy programs and enlightening reflections by therapists. The author chaired AdMU’s psychology department and was president of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) and editor of the Philippine Journal of Psychology. She currently teaches in UP Diliman while also continuing to practice as a clinical psychologist.

Another book making the rounds of launchings and receiving distinctions has been the well-received Ateneo de Manila University’s sesquicentennial coffee-table book, 150: The Ateneo Way, authored by Fr. Jose Arcilla, SJ, and co-published by Mediawise Communications, headed by Ramoncito Cruz.

Two weeks after it gained a prestigious Philippine Quill Award, the handsome volume was launched at the Grand Atrium of SM Cebu on Nov. 7, with the participation of SM Malls vice president for marketing (VisMin) and Ateneo alumna Marissa Fernan, Ateneo Alumni Association Cebu Inc. (AAACI) president Tony Pineda, AAACI board member Jack Huang, Fr. Manuel Uy Jr., SJ, of the Sacred Heart School, and other Cebu-based Ateneo alumni.

Montebello Resort Hotel and Negros Navigation also supported the activity, which featured a video presentation on the three-year preparation leading to the 2009 celebration of the sesquicentennial by ADMU director for development Hector Guballa. Both Cruz and Fr. Arcilla recalled the challenges they encountered in the four-year process of book production. The Company, composed mostly of Ateneo alumni, entertained guests with their famous songs.

A weeklong exhibit at the second floor of SM Cebu Northwing was also opened, showcasing selected vintage photos from the book, as well as memorabilia and other items that serve to commemorate Ateneo’s 150th anniversary. The Cebu celebration culminated in a mini-golf tournament at the Cebu Country Club and a Blue Night at the SM Northwing.

AAACI has been supporting Project Eagles’ Nest. Aside from currently providing an allowance to a scholar through The Women of the Ateneo, the association seeks to raise at least P600,000 to donate a room at the University Dormitory in the Loyola campus, as well as for the continuing relief and rehabilitation efforts for victims of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

Proceeds from the book’s sale will go to the 500@150 Scholarship Campaign that aims to raise 500 new college scholarships for Ateneo’s 150 years of celebrating excellence, deepening spirituality, and building the nation.

Copies of 150: The Ateneo Way are available at the Office of University Development & Alumni Relations, Loyola Schools Bookstore, Ateneo Press, Jesuit Communications, Fully Booked, Café Renzo, Power Books, La  Solidaridad Manila, Mag:Net on Katipunan Ave., and Bistro Ricco Renzo at the LRI Design Plaza, G/F, N. Garcia St. (formerly Reposo), Bel-Air Village, Makati City.

If you’re overseas or elsewhere in the country, you may order online by going through www.mediawise.ph.

Co-publisher Media Wise Communications Inc. also publishes Muse Magazine, an arts, travel, and culture magazine that won a special citation from the Catholic Mass Media Awards during its 30th year in 2008.

My Malacañang: Essays on Presidents, People, Places and Politics by Raul S. Gonzalez, published by the DAWN Alumni and Writers Network, makes for fine reading, given the elegance of language and gentle wit of the author, who, it must be stressed here, was a former journalist and never had the notoriety of a namesake who served as Justice secretary (and is sometimes still at the Palace).

The author actually lived on the Palace grounds, “where he negotiated his passage to manhood during a singular period of contemporary history” — per the foreword.

Malacañang, writes Gonzales, was “where I took my first firm steps and uttered my first coherent words, where I rode my first bike, read my first book, stole my first kiss, and wrote my first poem.”

His father, Engineer Arturo M. Gonzalez, was assistant city engineer of Manila when he “overseered the transfer of the Quezon household to Malacañang and supervised the initial housecleaning to render the Palace habitable to the Quezons.”

Both the President and the First Lady, Aurora Aragon Quezon, were impressed with his work, so that engineer Gonzalez was taken out of the Dept. of Public Works and appointed presidential technical assistant and superintendent of buildings and grounds in the old Malacañang. It was he who completed the Pasig river embankments and turned the Palace grounds into a series of rotundas for vehicular traffic.

The author’s memories are as solid with detail as they are bittersweet. “It was... also in Malacañang where I saw what war did to men and what men did in war, in Malacañang where two sisters of mine were conceived and my father bled to death in my 15-year-old arms from a bullet fired from a crazed soldier’s Browning automatic rifle, Malacañang which shaped me into the person I am.”

That person became a writer. Gonzalez wrote opinion pieces for The Philippine STAR, Evening Star, The Evening Paper and The Daily Tribune. He has also advised aspiring journalists at the University of the East’s student newspaper, The DAWN. In tribute to their caring mentor, these former students now honor “Gonza” by publishing this book of excellent recollections.