"These stories come from across the Pacific, where Filipino authors wrote of the land they know and love so well, and especially of the boys and girls of the Philippines.

Here, life is shown as it was in the Philippines before December 8, 1941. These tales are of a happier day—a day before the war, when freedom-loving Filipinos dwelt in peace, preparing their democratic institutions for the independence which was to come.

Since that December morning in 1941, our nation has gone through the tragic ordeal of war and destruction. The world knows that the Filipinos have not flinched. Under General Douglas MacArthur, 92,000 men of the Philippine Army, side by side with 16,000 Americans, fought the Japanese invaders to a standstill for four months. Twenty thousand of our young men died on Bataan, Corregidor, and a score of other battlefields. They died for freedom and for the dream of the coming century of the common people.

Never before in the history of mankind has there been a greater need for understanding among the peoples of the earth, and especially among the children of free nations. This book will serve a useful purpose by encouraging deeper appreciation and understanding of the people of the Philippines. Their skin may be darker and their language not the same. But their hearts long for human friendship, just as other elsewhere do, and their eager hands will play an important part in the rebuilding of the Far East when the war is won."

- Sergio Osmeña, President of the Philippines

Published in 1944 by D.C. Heath and Company

80 pages / Hardcover