Testimonials

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  "I just love your book and the story. It puts a face on the children who have foreign workers as parents. It is so endearing and beautifully told. I am going to ask my county's librarians to buy the book for our school libraries. Please let me know when another book comes out. Much love and best wishes to you and your precious family!"-- Wendy Doromal, activist, the UnheardNoMore blog (a forum for social justice dedicated to human rights, freedom, justice and democracy for the foreign contract workers in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.)

  
  
  "It's been a while since a book affected me this much.... excellent and heart warming book. I really enjoyed reading it! I was initially thinking that it was a children's book, but my whole family loved it. Well illustrated and the story is filled with love and inspiration. An expression of parents' love for their kids. A must have for every family. I will recommend this book to my children's teacher. Can't wait for another best from this author."--Dandy

  
  
  This is really great! This story is going to appeal to a lot of migrant workers kids, of which I am one. And it's also relevant even if you're not. There are many families whose parents work all week away from home, and their kids. I'm an adult with my own children now, but I related so much to Emmanuel's story. This feeling of what you love most tearing you away from those you love is something as a kid you just kind of observe and sit with, but that upon reflection as an adult, you realize what hard emotions you had to try and make sense of at a very early age. Also, this concept of your parents working because they love you is just impossible to justify in your head at that age. I just remember hearing the words but having my emotional words playing tennis with those and mine always winning. I could go on and on...I really liked it, and it sent me many years back to memories I had buried away. Riza, I think you have a great story and a huge market! The developing world experiences this daily! --R.R. (Brooklyn, New York)

  
  
  "This book captures a reality that affects millions of families worldwide. It's written from a child's perspective, but anyone who has ever had to feel the pain of separation from a loved one leaving to seek a better life, to work abroad, or to serve in the military will be able to relate. Sometimes it takes seeing the world through a child's eyes to make things crystal clear."--Walt F.J. Goodridge, author of Living True to Your Self

Meet Riza Ramos (Interview)

Riza Oledan-Ramos grew up in Cabucgayan, Biliran, Philippines. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Martinez Memorial College in Cabucgayan City, and is currently a staff nurse at the Commonwealth Health Center on Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She has written dozens of poems, and is currently writing a series of children's non-fiction books.

On August 18, 2009 my third grade son asked me to help him with his school project in Language under Mrs. Frances Taimanao in Mt. Carmel School, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. However, this was not the usual project or art work like he has had since the first grade. It was his autobiography.

We started collecting his baby pictures and revisited events that had occurred in his life. My son shared his thoughts as we looked at the photographs. As I input his words into the computer, he told me things he remembered, things he actually felt, and things that I had missed while I was away from him.

As I typed, I realized that to capture his thoughts accurately, I needed to put myself in his shoes, and think like a child. I asked my son for things I could hardly describe, but he was smart enough to answer me in a child’s way. During the process, I felt how sad it is for a child to be left by his/her mom or dad. I imagined how many children are being left by mothers or fathers for jobs far from home.

As we finished my son’s project, I had an idea that we could actually make a real book; a book worthy enough to share with the world. Every day in the Philippines and around the world many parents are leaving their home country to find work elsewhere to give their children a better future. I, for one, am one of these parents. My brother and brother-in-law also work in foreign countries, all with the same motivation: to gain a better life for us and our children.

This is a story not just for Filipino children, but for all children in the world with a mom or dad living far away, who in one way or another have had the same experiences as my son.

This book is not only for kids to enjoy, but also for parents. This will be like your child opening his feelings to you. My aim is not only to make it a memorable experience for children, but also to touch a parent's heart with simple words from a child’s point of view. HAVE FUN READING!

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Riza's Friends!

Riza's friends reading the book!

Riza's friends at the Commonwealth Health Center Giftshop on Saipan are selling The Boy Who Dreamed to Be With His Parents on Saipan!

Riza's friend in New Zealand has a super cool bookmark for any book! It's called The Bookworm and is available in blue, green, orange and yellow! Here's a photo of it bookmarking Riza's book!

Riza's friends at Bestseller Books on Saipan invite you to come browse their selection of books and pick up a copy of The Boy Who Dreamed..."

Riza's friends at the Joeten Kiyu Public Library on Saipan have the book available for reading! Check it out!
Riza's friend, Emily Mitchell-Eaton, a doctoral student from Syracuse University conducting research on the CNMI immigration transition, interviewed Riza about The Boy Who Dreamed.. More | Testimonials