Stephanie Sy is a Filipino-Chinese-Canadian from Toronto. Sy seeks to explore diverse and multiple cultures in her picture books.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
A Roof!
Illustrated by Daniel Tingcungco.
New York: Kokila, 2024.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Typhoons are a regular part of Maya’s life in the Philippines, but after this storm, she finds something unusual in her backyard—a roof! There’s an address written on it, and Maya is determined to return it to its family. She’ll need help to make her way through the damage left behind by the typhoon. As she sets out with her tatay, Maya collaborates with a farmer and his carabao, a couple of fishers and their boat, a sapatero, a labandera, a kusinera, and more of her neighbors. Together, they sail around knotted tree roots, hauling, heaving, pushing, and dragging the roof until they find its family—and begin to rebuild their community.
Told by Stephanie Ellen Sy in a cumulative structure that begs to be read aloud, and paired with Daniel Tingcungco’s lush and cinematic illustrations, A Roof! is a story about community care that celebrates the Filipino spirit of bayanihan.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
You Can’t Tame a Tiger
Illustrated by Julien Chung.
Forthcoming in 2025