by Lehua Parker | Mar 26, 2013 | Book Reviews & Announcements, Children's Literature, Pacific Literature
Matthew Kaopio, the author of Hawaiian Family Album, is an extraordinarily talented mouth-brush painter. His illustrations intrigued me enough to pick up his book, but as good as they are, they aren’t the heart and soul of his book.
His book is classic talk story—kids bugging a busy grandma to tell them family stories from her youth. In the eleven stories presented here, Grandma passes down Hawaiian culture and traditions and teaches the kids how to find their way through many of life’s difficulties.
One of my favorites, Kāne-o-kekai: Man of the Sea, tells the story of a woman’s fall into the sea and her rescue by a great white shark. It reinforces other opinions I heard as a child that sharks were to be respected, but not necessarily feared, and that ancestors are always ready to help.
The stories are funny, scary, and heartwarming, the perfect length for just before bedtime reading for kids. If you’re looking for some authentic Hawaiian culture, this book’s a winner.
Hawaiian Family Album by Mathew Kaopio is published by Mutual Publishing and is available as a trade paperback from the publisher, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
by Lehua Parker | Mar 25, 2013 | Learning ‘Ōlelo
akamai
(ah-kah-mai) (nvs) Smart, clever, expert.
Example
English: Billy! Straight As! You’re so smart!
Pidgin: Billy! You no get caught? Akamai buggah, ah you?!
Note: ‘Ōlelo is a Hawaiian word meaning language, speech, word, etc. To see the current list of Hawaiian and Pidgin words, definitions, and usage please click on
by Lehua Parker | Mar 21, 2013 | Character Haiku
‘Opihi, limu,
off the rocks. Sort, wash, shake, salt;
Open up your mouth.
~Uncle Kahana
For more character haiku click here.
by Lehua Parker | Mar 20, 2013 | Adult Fiction, Book Reviews & Announcements, Pacific Literature
When emigrants came to Hawai‘i they brought their food, their traditions, their languages—and their supernatural beings. Like the humans, the supernatural beings mixed and mingled with the locals and resulting stew is a ghost story hunter’s feast.
Obake Files by Glen Grant is a collection of his scholarly research into Hawai‘i’s supernatural world culled from first hand experiences, archives, and newspaper accounts over 25 years. The spine-tingling, chicken-skin tales are told in a matter of fact tone that makes them far scarier than any horror novel. You’ll find stories of fireballs, haunted houses and buildings, calling and choking ghosts, night marchers, ancestral bones, and modern encounters with Hawaiian gods and goddesses.
As any Hawaiian will tell you, there’s more to our world than meets the eye. Grant’s collection is reminiscent of the stories I heard—and the things I experienced—living in Hawai‘i. The encounters are broken into short entertaining segments perfect for on the go, got a minute reading.
Obake Files by Glen Grant is published by Mutual Publishing and available as a paperback directly from the publisher, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
by Lehua Parker | Mar 18, 2013 | Learning ‘Ōlelo
kulolo
(koo-loh-loh) (n) Thick Hawaiian coconut and taro pudding often served in slices.
Example
English: Mom! This fudge is weird! It doesn’t even taste like chocolate.
Pidgin: Get kulolo? Awesome!
Note: ‘Ōlelo is a Hawaiian word meaning language, speech, word, etc. To see the current list of Hawaiian and Pidgin words, definitions, and usage please click on
