Juan Tamad and Other Philippine Folk Tales

One day, I started telling my ten-year-old nephew a story about Juan Tamad. I didn’t get far before he cut me in mid-sentence with the question, “Uncle, who is Juan Tamad?”. I thought he was joking. But he wasn’t. He really did not know who Juan was.

So I explained to my nephew who Juan was and told him a couple of stories about him. He was smiling when I finished telling the stories; I guess he liked them.

And I wondered to myself, “What do kids like my nephew read now if they don’t know who Juan Tamad is?” With the millions of websites on the Internet and the newer forms of entertainment (such as XBOX, PS3, and Wii) available today, maybe kids don’t read books anymore. At least not for entertainment, like we used to do.

So created this website with the hope that kids like my nephew would somehow find it and enjoy the stories about Juan and other Philippine folk tales like I did when I was a child.

So Who Is Juan Tamad?

Juan Tamad (Filipino for Lazy John) is a famous character in the Philippines who is noted for extreme laziness. Portrayed as a child in many stories, Juan is often described as lazy and, at the same time, stupid that he usually appeared as comic.

In one of the stories told about Juan, he came upon a guava tree bearing large ripe fruit. Juan, being too lazy to move to climb the tree, he lay down instead under the guava tree and let nature’s gravity drop the fruit. He remained there waiting for the tree to fall into his wide gaping mouth.

Now that you know who Juan is, you’re ready to read some Juan Tamad stories. Or, if you fancy, maybe some Philippine legends and Philippine fables. Happy reading!

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