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Victoria in AZ
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Please share some of your favorite books about Hawaii, the Big Island in particular.
Any living books about nature that we should not miss (MacBeth???)?
Thank you.
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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guitarnan
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We have a couple of books dh brought back from Hawai'i...our family favorite is a lovely story called "Kalapana," by Carolyn Everett Han, which begins with a young girl adopting a kitten who was orphaned in a volcanic eruption (Big Island!). When the kitten dies, she plants hibiscus flowers in the cat's memory and then remembers her beloved pet when the flowers bloom. To this day, my children call hibiscus flowers Kalapana flowers. (Warning, I cry every single time I read this book.) So far the only place I can find that sells this book is islandheritage.com...it looks like they have some good stuff!
Stacey Kaopuiki has written a few books about the islands, their history and unique flora and fauna in her "Peter Panini" series. It looks like a couple of these books are available via Amazon. We have the one about Living Treasures of the Hawai'ian Islands.
Don't forget to add some music! Skip Don Ho...try Brother IZ (Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole; his lovely tenor voice and ukelele are magical) or Keola Beamer (Hawai'ian slack-key guitar...tuning patterns handed down in families!) Keola Beamer's mom, Winona "Nona" Beamer,learned traditional singing by memorizing songs her mentor taught her...and she is one of the few people left who has learned by this traditional method.
Can you tell that I grew up loving the Islands? I've only been there once, but my grandparents traveled there many times and brought me back gifts, history books, dolls, music...
Hope this gets you started!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Mary Chris
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guitarnan wrote:
Don't forget to add some music! Skip Don Ho...try Brother IZ (Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole; his lovely tenor voice and ukelele are magical) or Keola Beamer (Hawai'ian slack-key guitar...tuning patterns handed down in families!) Keola Beamer's mom, Winona "Nona" Beamer,learned traditional singing by memorizing songs her mentor taught her...and she is one of the few people left who has learned by this traditional method.
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Nancy,
I love Hawaiian music! Are you familar with the Brothers Cazimero? They are coming to Wolftrap sometime this summer. Want to make a road trip? We have not seen them since we left Hawaii. We went to many of their concerts under the stars and Diamond Head. I love Hawaii and was lucky enough to live their twice, once with my family and then with my husband.
I cannot think of any living books about Hawaii. 
I know I did Hawaiian history way back in the fourth grade.
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mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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guitarnan
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Mary Chris,
Wow, when are they coming? I have not heard of them, but I really love Hawai'ian music. The first part of the summer is pretty booked up...but August is fairly clear...wouldn't that be great!
The last time we were at Wolf Trap was in 2001, when we took the kids to see Riverdance. (A whole different set of books and music...I was an exchange student in Ireland, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...)
I've been checking out the islandheritage.com website all evening...sigh...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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MaryM
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I had seen this book (In the Shadow of the Pali) recently at our library but haven't read it. It made me think of the link with Blessed Damien of Molokai and his work with the lepers. Maybe these two together would be an interesting study of an aspect of Hawaii. The Vision book Father Damien and the Bells is good.
There is an old (unfortunatley out of print) book called Kimo, The Whistling Boy, A Story of Hawaii by Alice Bailey. It's illustrated by Lucille Holling.
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Mary Chris
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guitarnan wrote:
Mary Chris,
Wow, when are they coming? I have not heard of them, but I really love Hawai'ian music.
I've been checking out the islandheritage.com website all evening...sigh... |
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Thce concert is September 10th.
I will have to check out the website!
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Kelly
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For Mom (and possibly your eldest, depends on maturity level) there's always Michener's "Hawaii". There was also a mini-series made-for-tv on that with Julie Andrews that I remember enjoying as a kid. The only thing inappropriate that sticks out in my mind is where the Hawaiian "prince" marries his sister (!!)but I think it was relatively underplayed in the mini-series.
For little kids, there's the old dependable Magic Tree House book, "High Tide in Hawaii". Silly, but the kids enjoy it.
For a living science book, your eldest might enjoy Euell Gibbon's classic, "Stalking the Blue Eyed Scallop". I LOVED this book when I was that age. It's not a novel, though, but a book about Gibbon's time spent in Hawaii, learning to live off the land (and sea). Talk about an idyll. Sigh. All I wanted to do was go move to Hawaii and live off the land, too, after reading this book.
If you end up expanding to the South Seas in general, there's Herman Melville's classic book, "Typee: A Peep into Polynesian Life". I really liked this book when I was a teen. "The Black Pearl" takes place in Polynesia, too, I *think*, and of course, there's "Mutiny on the Bounty"...but you're moving farther and farther away from Hawaii at that point!
There're a load of WWII books that take place near Hawaii. Off hand, I think Robb White's books "Up Periscope" and "Run Silent, Run Deep" (is that Robb White's, too???) both take place in the vicinity, both submarine books. Very exciting reading for boys. In the movie department, "Tora! Tora! Tora" is one my boys have liked, about Pearl Harbor.
About Molokai, there's "Fr. Damien and the Bells", also a very good section on him in the "Reading Comprehension on the Saints" series put out by CHC, complete with vocab and Q&A. There is also an older movie (from the 70's I think) about Fr. Damien that was really good, your local Catholic bookstore might have it if they have a rental section.
Kelly in FL
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Kelly
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One more thing, I just remembered that National Geographic has a video for kids about Volcanos that is really goofy--but worthy--with people dressed as porquepines or something, in a space ship, exploring earth's volcanos. A lot of it takes place in Hawaii, and the Ring of Fire. Lots of good footage about Hawaii's volcanos, as I remember. It's a silly premise, but the movie is quite entertaining, actually, with lots of good info on pahoi'hoi and pyroclastic flow and things like that. I'm pretty sure National Geographic has a "regular" documentary on volcanos, maybe even on Hawaii's volcanos alone, but for kids, I personally prefered the porquepines-in-space movie!
Kelly in FL
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guitarnan
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Kelly,
That video is "Lava Blast"; we have it. My daughter got into the volcano thing a couple of years ago and received that video for Christmas. She loved it. There are a couple of other videos in that series, too. The characters are aliens exploring the earth and they make all kinds of goofy assumptions about what is going on, based on their observations. Their computer helps to straighten them out, revealing science facts and helpful film footage along the way. I'd say ages 4 - 7 or 8 would like these videos. Also, the volcano one isn't scary, it's funny; some adult documentaries include info about people being killed in lava flows, or photographers who die pursuing the perfect eruption footage...not so great for younger students.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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MacBeth
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I have not been to Hawaii, but I asked a good CM friend who has, and she recommended the following books for wildlife:
Sand to Sea
Punia and the King of the Sharks (folk tale with natural history)
Plants and Animals (coloring book)
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JennGM
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I don't have books about them, but as mentioned above about Bl. Damien of Molokai, Mother Marianne Cope of Molokai was just beatified on Pentecost. Here's the homily. I couldn't seem to find the biography on the site...something is wrong with the link. But a quick search for her name on Google came up with some articles and pictures.
I'm a broken record, but I have to recommend a series I grew up with--many libraries may still have it. It is called "Folklore of the World" by Edward Dolch. Stories from Hawaii was my ultimate favorite. It's full of myths and folktales from Hawaii with great illustrations.
I found a few copies on bookfinder.com, and I've found some at library sales and eBay. It's another series that has left a lasting impression on me and all my siblings. The first time I read it was in 3rd grade, and that was a series I rechecked over and over again.
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JennGM
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I just found this on the CHC site, but turn down the volume!!! Blessed Marianne Cope.
She is also known as Mother Marianne of Kalaupapa.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MaryM
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jenngm67 wrote:
| Mother Marianne Cope of Molokai was just beatified on Pentecost. |
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Jenn,
I'm glad you mentioned this - when I saw it in the NCR this week I was going to post it but got distracted.
Also, since Pearl Harbor has been mentioned a book my sons liked is Under the Blood Red Sun.
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JennGM
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I was just going through memory lane with my mother and aunt. I remember a summer visit to Arkansas to visit my cousins and grandmother and I read a biography of Bl. Damien (when he was just Servant of God, I guess). It was so gripping to me. I remember how I stayed up night reading it, which room, which light I used. So I asked my mother if she knew which book this was, and she thinks it was Damien the Leper by John Farrow, father of Mia Farrow, the actress.
My mother also remembers reading it as a girl...and which house and which room she was in reading it. I guess I should start another topic...because I realize that books that have made quite an impression on me I remember the setting of where I read it...so that place or memory also brings the book back to mind, or vice versa!
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ALmom
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Oh, I wish you lived close by and I'd loan you photos and slides from our time in the Pacific. Tropical fish are wonderfully colorful (not what you see at the pet store). My dad has a large collection of shells (all different kinds) and we had our own aquarium growing up. We saw symbiosis in action in our tank - with clown fish and anenome. It was easy to keep because we filled it from the ocean and never had to clean algae or worry about salt balance and we even returned some fish to the ocean after having a chance to watch them in action. Once we even had a stone fish in our aquarium (it was the only way my mom could think of to safely get it from my little brother who had caught it in a hand net and climbed up the rocks with it. We also saw sharks, my dad saw a great blue whale up close. He took a lot of underwater photography.
Perhaps a field guide with really good color pictures of shells. The counch shell has a beautiful purple tint to it. Oh, this is bringing back memories. My dad had a unique way to clean the animal out of the shell. He would put the shell in the freezer with all the food until the animal was dead and frozen. Then he would bury it in the yard until the ants ate the critter. Sunlight bleaches the shell's natural beauty and this was a labor free way without losing the shell's sheen and color. The only thing we had to deal with was the stench for a few days - which was humorous at times realizing they started in our freezer. My mother was quite tolerant!!
Tropical fish are also vibrantly colorful. Unfortunately I don't know all the scientific names - we called them by our own names. One was bright yellow with a long flowing fin on the top. Some looked like they had two eyes (a defense mechanism against predators), one we called a Little Girl fish because it was bright yellow with a little baby blue under the eyes and around the gill. We were treated to a Lua and learned hula somewhat as well as songs in a few languages (Marshaleese, Kusain, Ponapean). We walked through bunkers and some even still had gun mounts. We learned a lot about the War in the Pacific while touring battle sights (living on one, actually)
Oh, I wish we had books and I could help you more!!! There is a Kwajalein newsletter for people that lived on Kwajalein and somewhere out there is a funny piece about the different perspective on Kwajalein from the soldiers in WWII and right after(who saw it as hell on earth with the jungle and all) and current residents who see it as an island paradise. But this isn't really the Big Island or even Hawaii, although the shells and fish were very similiar.
Sorry I cannot help much, but I will ask my dad if he knows of anything really good. Hope you have a great trip if you are getting to travel to Hawaii!
Janet
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Victoria in AZ
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Thank you to everyone for these informative replies. You ladies are wonderful and really help to get the wheels turning. Nancy and Mary Chris, to think I might have forgotten all about music! We have fallen in love with IZ (isn't it sad that he died so young with such a gorgeous voice?). Eager to hear Nona Beamer now too.
Our little library did not have many of the books you mentioned, but we did get to Punia and the King of Sharks and the Magic Tree House books too. The other books you introduced me to, such as Kalapana and Kimo will still make splendid birthday and Christmas gifts. MacBeth, Sand to Sea looks like a winner.
Kelly, Stalking the Blue Eyed Scallop intrigues me now. We had watched a well-made movie about Bl. Damien a while back. Bummer that I could not find the specific videos mentioned either. Nancy, thanks for the name of Lava Blast. I did check out a BBC travel video about Hawaii and should have pre-viewed it before letting dd watch with me. There was an awful scene of a bull being castrated, mention of eating dogs, and then much political discussion about Hawaiian soveirgnity. Who knew to preview a travel video!
Jenn, wonderful information on Blessed Marianne Cope. I was happy to learn about her work in Hawaii. Beautiful homily, too. Thank you for these valuable links. Such a vivid memory you have of the book by John Farrow. My library doesn't have that either, but found it used for under $2. Hmm, you're sending me book shopping again, Jenn! I will keep my eye out for "Folklore of the World" as I frequent used book stores.
Janet, I surely wish I lived close by too :-) Your parents (and your experiences) were amazing! I love your names for the tropical fish too. Thank you for the well wishes. We were blessed to spend a week on the Big Island last week. Snorkeled at a marine sanctuary site. Sailing on the way to the snorkel site, the kids spotted a whale shark and the captain said it was a rare sighting indeed. I had a proud mama moment when Kate went on to explain how it was the biggest fish in the sea and didn't have any teeth. Walked on an active volcano. Toured a cocoa grove (the owner said they are the only place in the world making chocolate beginning with the cocoa grove). Had endangered green sea turtles swim right up to us at a beach. Identified birds and blossoms and shells and coral. The field trip of a lifetime, though my kids abhor me saying so (they don't want to think of it as school). I pointed out nature study sketches in the displays at the Volcano National Park. Asked for examples of symmetry while walking in the rainforest. Wished aloud for our color pencils. Seems a dream now that we are back on the mainland...to think you lived there, Mary Chris!
Janet, would you ask your dad about a shell we found? It is shaped similar to a tiny pumpkin. The shell is black/brown/white stripes and is rather fragile.
Thanks again to everyone.
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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Mary Chris
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Oh Victoria,
I am glad you had such a wonderful trip!!!!! I cannot wait to retire to my grass shack on the Big Island.  I just love Hilo, well I just love Hawaii!
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mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Kelly
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Sigh. What a trip! Thrilled it was such a success. 
Kelly in FL
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ALmom
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Victoria,
Glad you had a great trip! I love the area and really miss the Pacific Ocean. I learned a lot about tropical things but now cannot help my children very well in SE.
I'll be happy to ask my dad about the shell. What shape was it - that narrows down where to look? Does it have a color on the inside or just the stripes on the outside? Did you get to see the animal in it?
Janet
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Victoria in AZ
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marychris wrote:
Oh Victoria,
I am glad you had such a wonderful trip!!!!! I cannot wait to retire to my grass shack on the Big Island. I just love Hilo, well I just love Hawaii! |
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Hilo was lovely and I wish we had more time there. We made it to the Hilo Farmers Market; bouquets of flowers for only $1. Pineapples for $2. Yummy tomatoes grown in volcanic soil. The colors and flavors! Need to go back and see one of the waterfalls near Hilo too.
Tell me more about how you came to live in Hawaii as a child, please, Mary Chris.
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Living Books about Hawaii?
