An Antiqueña writer launched her 8th children’s book, “Si Lemon kag si Alibangbang” (Lemon and Alibangbang), written in Kinaray-a to encourage the love for reading and promote the local dialect of Antique.

Linda Arnaez Lee, who hails from Barangay Pantao, Sibalom, but is now residing in Busan, South Korea, together with her family, came home to launch her new children’s book on Jan. 7.

“I had been writing children’s books in Kinaray-a to promote our local dialect and encourage the habit of reading,” she said in an interview on Thursday.

Lee said the Lemon and Alibangbang taught children a moral lesson about sacrificing oneself for the good of the whole.

“The story on how the leaves sacrifice themselves or serve as food for the caterpillars of the butterfly so it could pollinate teaches children a lesson that they, too, could sacrifice or do something for their family and community,” she said.

Lee further said that children, by contributing something, could achieve good results, such as the lemon tree bearing many fruits.

“The book has been written in a simple but entertaining way so that the children could easily understand the lifecycle of the butterfly,” she added.

The book has been translated into English by Jose Edison Tondares of St. Anthony’s College and Danielle Krist “DK” Terbio as illustrator. (PNA)