One thing I am most grateful for from my upbringing is having belonged to an environment that encouraged me to read. For instance, my school diligently implemented the SRA Reading Laboratory program. It was a box of color-coded short stories, each representing a level that increased further in reading difficulty. With this system in place, students were both encouraged and motivated to advance and read a greater breadth of stories.
Aside from this, one of my most memorable class days as a grade school student was when we had reading days where we could bring our own books to read during homeroom and English periods. These days usually coincided with the book fair, and students were also encouraged to borrow books from our library.
I remember that it was through one of those class days that I first fell in love with reading.
After pestering my mom the day before (as a kid who had breakfast and rode a school bus service, therefore not needing an allowance), she gave me PHP 300 as a budget for the book fair. What caught my eye then, and ended up being my first ‘big girl’ purchase, was the eighth book in the Dork Diaries series entitled, Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After.
As cliché as it sounds, reading opens up a whole new world. For girls like me, reading book series like Dork Diaries, Thea Stilton, or The School for Good and Evil let me embrace my femininity, curiosity, and imagination—without shame or limits. They made girlhood feel magical, powerful, and completely my own. These books didn’t just pass the time. In truth, they helped to build the framework for how I saw myself. In between their pages, books taught me that being soft didn’t mean being small, or that intelligence and emotion were not mutually exclusive. In the face of world issues that seemingly mirror the stories I read, I was reminded that my voice mattered even before I knew how to use it fully.
Some things can only be learned through the joy of reading. After all, a book’s greatest power is its ability to change someone's mind: to think, to grow, or to believe.
In a world where it has become easy to be mindless consumers of content, books remain a graceful source of challenge to one’s intellect and imagination. Bookstore PH has continued to cultivate this space: one where stories aren’t just consumed, but deeply felt, questioned, and remembered.
For teachers, this space is even more vital. Now more than ever, books must become co-teachers for shaping young minds, nurturing critical thinking, and inspiring a love for learning that goes beyond the classroom.
This September, Bookshelf PH celebrates the enduring power of reading through the educators who make it possible. Behind every curious reader is often a teacher who gave them the space to read and think freely. Moreover, it's not just about promoting literacy. It's about building a culture of empathy, inquiry, and imagination. That’s what Bookshelf PH champions: not just reading for the sake of it, but reading to better understand the world and ourselves.
From children’s literature like The Adventures of Damgo that nurtures wonders to collections that celebrate diverse identities, such as Sari-Sari Store, and nonfiction that challenges the intellect and expands empathy, like Fearless Filipinas, Bookshelf PH’s collection is thoughtfully curated for both students and teachers alike.
Whether you're an educator looking for your next classroom read or a lifelong learner searching for inspiration, Bookshelf PH might just have a lesson worth learning that comes with the right story into your hands.
by Rae Goco