2019
Grand Prize
Gabriela Dans Lee for “A Delicate Strength: The Story and Art of Araceli Limcaco Dans”
Cely was fascinated by the crocodile [and] wondered how something so mighty could also look so graceful.
- A Delicate Strength: : The Story and Art of Araceli Limcaco Dans -
When Cely’s father brings home a crocodile, all she wants to do is draw the strange, fascinating reptile lounging in their family’s swimming pool. Her mother says no. “Women don’t draw or paint,” she tells her daughter. Undaunted, Cely takes her notebooks and pencils out to the garden and starts to draw. So begins the extraordinary childhood tale of Araceli Limcaco Dans, one of the most famous painters in the Philippines. Based on true events, Gabriela Dans Lee’s 2019 Salanga prize-winning story seamlessly braids art and history as she recounts her grandmother’s contributions to the wartime efforts of Filipinos during World War II.
“A Delicate Strength” was published in 2020 as Cely’s Crocodile: The Art and Story of Araceli Limcaco Dans by Tahanan Books for Young Readers.
Awarded at the 36th National Children’s Book Day celebration on July 16, 2019 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
