13th Tukbook, staff picture book, university talks

Our 13th storybook is here! 💐

We’re delighted to share that TukTuk has just completed its 13th storybook in the Tukbook series! From our very first book, Jack the Giant, the series has continued to grow—and thanks to your continued support, we’ve reached this meaningful milestone together.

What makes Tukbooks special is that they go beyond storytelling. Each book is paired with songs, worksheets, and games that help bring the story to life and deepen children’s learning. This 13th book will also be the final Tukbook created in this full format, as future titles will be published as stand-alone storybooks. That makes this release especially close to our hearts.

Our newest—and final—Tukbook as a resource package is “Ratana and Meakara’s Village Orchestra.” In the story, Ratana and Meakara attend a relative’s wedding, where they encounter traditional Cambodian musical instruments. Some were allowed to try, and others were not. When they later share this experience with Jack, he tells them how he used to make his own instruments when he was young. Inspired, the children begin creating instruments from everyday materials. Their handmade instruments grow in number—until, under Teacher Sok’s guidance, everyone comes together to perform in a joyful village orchestra.

Through this story, we hope children feel inspired to explore Cambodian culture, traditional music and instruments, and the joy of creativity and making 🎶

The 5th staff-created picture book is complete! 🥎

We’re happy to share that our series of picture books created by TukTuk staff has reached its fifth title! Each book reflects the creator’s own ideas, creativity, and care for children’s learning. This time, the author is Keiko, and the book is titled “Borai’s Missing Ball.”

The story follows Borai as he searches for his precious lost ball—together with the children reading the book. Along the way, children encounter words related to colors, numbers, shapes, and positions, allowing them to naturally build new vocabulary while enjoying the story and helping Borai on his search.

For this book, we were also delighted to welcome a young volunteer illustrator, Adrian’s niece, who generously created the illustrations. While TukTuk’s familiar illustration style is always loved, experiencing a different art style can help children develop a broader sense of creativity and visual sensitivity.

More staff-created picture books are already in progress and waiting to be shared. Please stay tuned to see what wonderful stories are coming next 👀

Khmer of the month 🎄

Khmer Word: Sokola (Chocolate)

In Cambodia, Christmas traditions are becoming more familiar with each passing year. Even under the bright tropical sun, it’s now common to see Christmas trees decorated with white “snow.” At a newly opened supermarket in Pursat, you can even find Advent calendars—where children open one window each day and enjoy a small piece of sokola (chocolate) as they count down to Christmas Day.

Just like children in many other countries, children across the city are eagerly waiting for Christmas to arrive 🎅

Khmer Food: Prohat Tray (Deep-fried fish cake) 👇

A season of university presentations 🏫

Last month brought several meaningful opportunities for us to connect with students at universities in Japan and Australia.

We were invited once again to Seinan Jo Gakuin University in Fukuoka for their volunteer studies class. This year, Mayu delivered the presentation. Many students shared that it was their first time learning in depth about Cambodia’s history and current situation, and that they were moved by TukTuk’s journey and how the organisation has grown over time.

Several students also mentioned that our philosophy—Build / Access / Sustain—felt fresh and helped them rethink what meaningful support and donations can look like. We were deeply encouraged by the thoughtfulness and sincerity with which the students engaged in the session.

Once again this year, students will be supporting TukTuk by creating activity videos, drawing videos, and assisting with PR. The creativity and energy the younger generation brings to our work continues to be a great source of motivation for us.

In Australia, Adrian also gave a presentation to a student group at the Melbourne University, where warm collaborations emerged, and students showed their support through donations.

These university connections are valuable opportunities for learning and exchange for TukTuk. We look forward to continuing to build new possibilities together with the next generation.

A Christmas moment that could change how Cambodian children learn 🎄

As the year comes to a close, we’d like to share a brief update on Sala Rean Sabey — Cambodian Play School. The project is real, filming is underway, and the vision is clear: to show teachers and parents what play-based learning looks like in practice, using the Khmer resources we’ve spent years building together.

We also want to be transparent. Our Christmas fundraising window is short, and we are still some distance from our $100,000 stretch goal, which helps cover the real costs of producing episodes, supporting local staff, and continuing to grow the digital library alongside the show. Every episode created now will live on for years—teaching, inspiring, and supporting children long after Christmas has passed.

If you’re able to donate, your support at this moment genuinely helps keep this project moving forward. And if giving isn’t possible, sharing the campaign with your community makes a meaningful difference—it’s often how the right supporter finds us at exactly the right time.

Thank you for standing with TukTuk and for helping us offer Cambodian children the kind of learning experiences many of us were fortunate to grow up with.

[Donate or share the campaign here 👇]

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