Soft watercolor-style cover showing a family gathered outdoors on grass beneath a tree. A child reaches toward butterflies while grandparents sit nearby, suggesting remembrance and celebration. The title appears in large blue and pink lettering above.

What Makes a Family

Celebrating the Filipino Day of the Dead

Written by

Illustrated by

Translated by

About this story

During the Filipino Day of the Dead, a brother and sister learn that families aren’t defined by their size, wealth, gender or distance from one another, but by the love they share in life and beyond.

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Book Details

It is Undas, the Filipino Day of the Dead – a day when families visit the cemetery and gather around their dead loved ones’ tombs. It is a day not of mourning but of celebration – a day in which stories are shared and lives remembered.

Today, Pedrito and Pipay will encounter families of all shapes and sizes, all united in their desire to honor their loved ones. Whether through quiet prayer and contemplation or joyful song and laughter, whether through the sharing of great feasts or the lighting of a single candle, each family will find a way to pay tribute.

As the siblings trace their route through the cemetery, they will learn that families aren’t defined by their size, wealth, gender or distance from one another, but by the love they share – a love that echoes like prayers, burns like candles, and blooms like flowers in life and beyond.

An exquisitely-illustrated story of family love within a diverse and inclusive community where life and hope continue, despite the sadness of loss.