Hawaii Books

I absolutely fell in love with this book because of the illustrations while I was in Maui. I have shared it with my entire family and they all love it. Yes, this is a childrens book but I highly recommend it to everyone. The illustrations were very beautiful and the characters were very comical and told me a lot about the native animals of Hawaii.

At first I fell in love with this book purely because of the delightful illustrations by Michael Furuya. But after reading it over and over I found it to be a great introduction to the problems of Hawaii's native species, even for adults(as it is a childrens book). Although it is basic, the story about a Hawaiian Tree snail who meets up with a Hawaiian Happy Face spider and goes searching for adventure is fun and swiftly paced. It then introduces some of the many introduced species that have wreaked havoc on native flora and fauna.
I loved this story, it is great for anyone who has an interest in Native Hawaiian Fauna, especially for teaching children, or anyone who collects childrens books ( for illustrations or otherwise).

Takamura Kotaro was one of the few Japanese writers to continue publishing during the height of World War 2. He managed to do this by writing propaganda poems of the government. After the war, he found himself regretting his support for something that seemed so against his principles. This collection of poems and prose traces back his blind devotion to key moments in his childhood. Educated in France, his free form poetry smacks of French influence giving it a much lighter tone. Almost as moving as his collection of poetry about his wife, Chieko, it offers an eye opening look into one poet's remorse about his past actions.

I came across this talented poet/sculptor when I read the powerfully longing poem "To Someone [Not To Play]" p. 98 and knew that I had to have a book of his writing. I don't normally buy books and this is money well spent. I typically will borrow from the library but I had to make an exception with Takamura Kotaro! I only wish I owned a book of his and his wife's sculptures/artwork compilations!

I think e.e. cummings would have enjoyed "To Someone" a lot. I definitely find that his work is emotive, in the most creative sense imaginable. He was a Japanese sculptor, who was inspired by Auguste Rodin and worked in Paris. This book includes an incredible, insightful biography and commentary on his poems.

Chieko, his wife, suffered from schizophrenia and then later died in a sanitorium, much to his guilt. I noticed the similarities to his mother, when I read one poem [p.57 "Thinking of Mother"]. He idealized both of them, in their insecurities, martyrdom, and pure conscientiousness. His poems seemed to ask, "is a female's power wielded in ...leaving it, in leaving him?" Quite passive-aggressive.

The timeless poems, "Mountain Woods", "The Snow Has Piled White", and "Fountain of Mankind" reminded me of Robert Frost in their beautiful imagery of Mother Nature, of life as an endless experience of the seasons, both internally and externally.

"Lemon Elegy" was SO intense, you could TASTE the poem itself! The words conveyed an emotional power that could only be described as similar to the black and white, silent cinematography in "Snow Falling On Cedars". This is also one of his most famous poems and completely deserving! I will print this out and frame it, display it with a Rodin sculpture reproduction in my house, in tribute of this truly exquisite poet. Takamura Kotaro is my favorite poet of all time, after reading this wonderfully translated book that Hiroaki Sato made rich with nuance and kept authentic to the poet's character, meanings and moods. You will not regret buying this book. You will only regret not having enough copies to go around, when you want to send it out to everyone whom you share a special, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual bond with in your life.

I believe that Kotaro's experiences of guilt, grief, and frustration, even anger would be very useful for anyone whose had to cope with a chronic/debilitating illness in a family member. His wife died of TB 3 years after he had her hospitalized. Only those who have lived with schizophrenia in their families or have seen it up close in friends/loved ones can truly understand his decision and his intense guilt.

The insight this book offers is wonderful for ANYONE caught up in grief, or has experienced loss, as it is highly cathartic.

A brilliant collection of essays. Excellently selected, well edited and full of ideas which demand attention. Perhaps the net effect can best be summed up as scraping away of some old and spreading out smoothly of fresh clean gomaya - the result is a whole new set of answers, questions and provocations. Most of us will have copies of some of the papers, but almost certainly not all and certainly not in such a handy format. This book is an essential item on any buddhologist's bookshelf (come to think of it perhaps Greg can send his niece - see the nice anecdote in his introduction - a copy so she will learn what a good buddhologist does)

This book is every bit as excellent as Schopen's prior publication. He has an incredible knack for taking what you'd think are boring, dusty details and breathing life into them in order to really explore what Buddhism was in India. This guy never assumes anything, and you never come away from his books with the same view of Buddhism as you had before. And he writes with clarity and verve, which is so painfully rare in the scholarly world today.

I love this book and it's easy to read in a short amount of time.

Jody Earle's memoir of her several years on Ford Island in the shadow of the safety of those fated battleships prior to the Pearl Harbor attack reads like the best fiction: funny, surprising, and almost dreamlike in its depiction of girlhood pleasures. That the reader knows what's coming infuses these pages with terrible dread: as Robert Frost says, "Nothing gold can stay." This wonderful book, history at its best, is ever more relevant after 9-11: currently, new lives are undertaking recoveries which, like this writer's, will be lifelong. A triumphant little book to be savored by both girls and boys from ages eight up, and by all adults.

In the mid-1900's, the author Leinani Melville was a merchant sailor who was taught traditional Hawaiian religion, mythology, and sacred symbols by Native Hawaiians, which included an elderly Hawaiian woman in Waikiki. Just before this elderly Hawaiian woman died, she told Melville to write a book. This book took over 2 decades to write and it is about the Hawaiian Gods, select mythology (including the Kumulipo or creation chant), and many illustrated sacred symbols with explanations. In addition, it does have a few astrological references in the context of the presented mythology or history. Children Of the Rainbow is a unique, priceless, and readable authentic Native Hawaiian resource.

Children of the Rainbow : The Religions, Legends, and Gods of Pre-Christian Hawaii. A most important book for astronomers who date the explosion of X-1 in the beak of the constellation Cygnus as 65 million years ago. First, mankind has not been around that long and, Second, Even though the explosion of X-1 has been recorded all over the world, only the Hawaiians seem to have seen it up close. Apparently, all others were either killed outright by the subsequent flooding of the land or their descendants treated the stories as grandpop's standard story of "the big one that got away." This may be a book about religion, but it is more a book about the heavens and how it reflects years of sky observations, some actual sightings but other views that attempt to explain to their people about the beauty around their islands

This book is a recent publishing success of an experienced author, Professor Knapp, and comprises part of his series on Chinese traditional and modern architecture. It offers a wealth of new information and illustrative material (photographs and drawings), based on original research conducted predominantly throughout the eastern and south-eastern coast of the Chinese mainland and in Taiwan. The publication is well-arranged into two main sections which are further sub-divided into separate parts; the sub-chapter titles speak for themselves - please consult the table of contents. Some concrete examples of still-living traditional ritual folk practices are examined, as well as translations of ritual chants which are analyzed in detail. As for me, this is the most interesting part of the first section. The second major part of the book, Section II, "In Pursuit of Good Fortune" (pp. 79-171), consists of very interesting four essays dealing with concrete Chinese efforts to attract good fortune, longevity, wealth, health, business success and other desirable qualities to the house and house owner's family. The authors directs our attention to various manifestations of this eternal Chinese desire for happiness; he also gives us a comprehensive overview of various methods of how to obtain it. As he rightly stresses, the majority of traditional building ornamentation is "positively" determinated, i.e. it is meant to summon good things, and only a minority is directed toward warding off evil spirits. Many pages are dedicated to the so-called New Year pictures, prints, papercuts, calligraphy and the other forms of folk art, all of which employ metaphor, allegory, and word-play, based on the homophony of the Chinese language and the structural principles of its written form. It must be stressed that all parts of the text are informative and well documented. Worth mentioning as well is the fact that the Chinese characters are typed directly in the text, which is clearly organized and thus very useful for Sinologists. To sum up, the book is warmly recommended to all students of Chinese architecture, folklore and living traditions, as well as to all of you who make plans for visiting China, especially Chinese coastal regions.

This book is a recent publishing success of an experienced author, Professor Knapp, and comprises part of his series on Chinese traditional and modern architecture. It offers a wealth of new information and illustrative material (photographs and drawings), based on original research conducted predominantly throughout the eastern and south-eastern coast of the Chinese mainland and in Taiwan. The publication is well-arranged into two main sections which are further sub-divided into separate parts; the sub-chapter titles speak for themselves - please consult the table of contents. Some concrete examples of still-living traditional ritual folk practices are examined, as well as translations of ritual chants which are analyzed in detail. As for me, this is the most interesting part of the first section. The second major part of the book, Section II, "In Pursuit of Good Fortune" (pp. 79-171), consists of very interesting four essays dealing with concrete Chinese efforts to attract good fortune, longevity, wealth, health, business success and other desirable qualities to the house and house owner's family. The authors directs our attention to various manifestations of this eternal Chinese desire for happiness; he also gives us a comprehensive overview of various methods of how to obtain it. As he rightly stresses, the majority of traditional building ornamentation is "positively" determinated, i.e. it is meant to summon good things, and only a minority is directed toward warding off evil spirits. Many pages are dedicated to the so-called New Year pictures, prints, papercuts, calligraphy and the other forms of folk art, all of which employ metaphor, allegory, and word-play, based on the homophony of the Chinese language and the structural principles of its written form. It must be stressed that all parts of the text are informative and well documented. Worth mentioning as well is the fact that the Chinese characters are typed directly in the text, which is clearly organized and thus very useful for Sinologists. To sum up, the book is warmly recommended to all students of Chinese architecture, folklore and living traditions, as well as to all of you who make plans for visiting China, especially Chinese coastal regions.

I am a public school teacher and have been looking for materials on China for my Asian Studies course. I was at my wits end using materials meant for a world history course. Coverage of Asia was minimal and reading level was for 11th or 12th grade. I needed something that both 9th graders and 12th graders could use. This book is perfect. The reading level is appropriate for 9th graders, but the assessment and evaluation activities allow for higher level critical thinking skills. The students really enjoy the stories told from a personal perspective and the explanations for the historical context. And, as if that weren't enough, the book is reasonably priced. Teachers are used to high prices for textbooks. This textbook is very reasonably priced. I will be ordering a classroom set of books for my class in July.

This is a well-researched and very usable book for teachers of students in grades 7-12. I bought this book and used it as a supplemental text for our unit on China and students and their parents raved about it. The sections on culture in China were particularly useful for middle school students: daughters, sons, parents in traditional China. The major highlight was its fair and deep analysis of Footbinding in China. Students come away with a very good knowledge of Chinese history and culture. I recommend this book without reservation!

Wonderful pictures, wonderful rhymes. If you are looking for good, old-fashioned literature, this is the book for you. The kind of reading materials the world needs more of!

This is a delightful book, especially if you are looking for good old fashioned literature. Wonderful tales, beautiful pictures. The kind of books your grandmother used to read to you. This book is well worth purchasing.

A comprehensive yet remarkably easy to use guide to the island of Maui. It had all the information a visitor could have asked for - good historical and cultural background, good maps, good descriptions of all the places of interest on the island, extensive listings of hotels, restaurants, tours and activities and events on the island, and comprehensive sections on beaches and hiking. The directions to all the places we visited were accurate, and all the information we used was current. You couldn't really ask for any more in a guidebook. In fact, of all the guidebooks out there, if I had to pick only one guide to Maui to take along, this would be it.

My family and I just took a vacation to Maui, and of all the things we
bought, this was by far our best investment. Not only was this
guidebook packed with good, useful information on everything on the
island, but its layout and organization and all the interconnected
icons made it extremely user-friendly. We didn't have to spend our
vacation time trying to find the information in the book, because it
was all right there, like hitting the right key. Great value. It went
with us wherever we went, and we'll definitely be passing it along to
friends heading to Maui.

If you are looking for a book to inspire your quilter's creativity, you've found it. The many illustrations of unique quilts inspired by the native Hawaiians' original quilt style are colorful, vibrant, and unique.
If you are looking for a step-by-step instruction guide, this is not for you. I found this book to be a wonderful display of innovative accomplishment.

This is a lovely book of pictures of Hawaiian Quilts, I though I was purchasing a book with patterns on how to make the quilts. There is a good explantion of the history of Hawaiian quilts.