Hawaii Books

Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits is told in words and pictures by award-winning artist Caren Loebel-Fried. The ancient legends are brought to life in sixty beautiful block prints, many vibrantly colored, and narrated in a lively "read-aloud" style, just as storytellers of old may have told them hundreds of years ago. Notes are included, reflecting the careful and extensive research done for this volume at the Bishop Museum Library and Archives in Honolulu and at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. A short section on the process of creating the block prints that illustrate the book is also included.

The matching poster of "A Chance Meeting with the `I`iwi" measures 22 x 28 inches. The poster is printed on high quality glossy paper in full vibrant color.

Excellent book to have for your own personal library. Author's clear step by step directions and accompanying colorful photographs enables the reader to create beautiful leis for that special someone and occasion. In addition, the author sends a beautiful message about Hawaii's flora and how the art of lei-making plays a significant part in its past and today's lifestyle. Reading ability: 10 yrs. and older.

This is a small book documenting the earliest written information on traditional Hawaiian or Kahuna medical knowledge. It is a very readable English translation from the Hawaiian language. It is a very interesting and historical book.

This was a truly fine book about the Hawaiian monk seal. It was
written by Patrick Ching, a man with genuine affection for the
seal. It has excellent pictures and the text is informative. Best
of all, Mr. Ching makes it a true joy to read, and anybody who
reads it will learn from it and enjoy it. If you love Hawaii,
seals, or both, I highly recommend this book.

This book is probably the best reference book on its subject ever written. It amazes me that the University has allowed it to go out of print. Content is focused on the performers, songs and styles of the 1920-1970 period, along with entries on traditional Hawaiian music and instruments prior to the Haole influence. The greatest value is that the compilers have gathered information on many obscure performers available in no other source.

Ordinarily, bibliographies don't have much of a plot. But David Forbes' excellent "Hawaiian National Bibliography" does, sort of.
The shock of Hawaii's discovery to the rest of the world can be measured by the echoes down the decades from the clicks of the compositors' sticks and the clanks of the world's presses as they spread the news. Forbes' first volume, which was published in 1998, just barely entered the period in which printing began in the islands. That volume was about books about Hawaii.
Volume 2 signals the era of books from Hawaii. It roughly coincides with the eventful reign of Kamehameha III. Books and broadsides record the first bill of rights that made commoners and chiefs equals before the law, the first law codes, the translation of the Bible into Hawaiian, the interference of the British and the French, the struggles for supremacy between Catholic and Protestant missionaries, the schooling of nearly a whole nation previously illiterate, the visits of the whalers and the beginnings of scientific reports on the islands' unique plants, animals and geology.
Although the thousand or so publications catalogued in this impressive volume are largely from Hawaii, they are still not yet of Hawaiians. Most were written (or translated) by missionaries, much of the rest by other foreigners. Hawaiians did not, at this point, figure often as authors; and while the government was an active publisher, the bulk of its writing was handled by foreign advisers.
Hawaiians were, Forbes notes, enthusiastic contributors of letters and articles to newspapers, starting with Ka Lama Hawaii (published at Lahainaluna from February 1834, the first newspaper printed west of the American Rocky Mountains) and Ke Kumu Hawaii, the first newspaper with a general circulation, printed in Honolulu from November 1834.
But Hawaiians did not write books until 1838, when the Lahainaluna press issued "Ka Mooolelo Hawaii," described by Forbes as "one of the most important books on Hawaii . . . . the first Hawaiian history written and published in Hawaii, and the first from a Hawaiian viewpoint."
This was written by some of the top students at the Lahainaluna school, of whom the most famous was David Malo.
By the 1840s, there were four presses in Hawaii. The original Protestant missionary press at Lahainaluna, where the students learned not only printing but woodblock and copperplate engraving, did not survive as late as 1850. But there was another Protestant press in Honolulu, as well as a Catholic missionary press and a commercial press there.
The type lice, who usually hide in the seldom-used ffi and ffl compartments of the lower case, had an easy life at Pai Palapala Katolika. This was the age of the sainted Pius IX, when all the educational efforts of the church of Rome were devoted to ensuring that its communicants remained illiterate.
Pai Palapala Katolika published in Hawaiian only some slender catechisms, hymnbooks and prayerbooks. The rest of its issue was devoted mainly to dissing the Protestants, and for a European audience.
The Protestant presses issued 50 times as much material as the Catholics, and 100 times as much in Hawaiian.
Editions were impressively large, 10,000 for textbooks in the early years and as many as 15,000 by the late 1840s. The per capita availability of Hawaiian books was at least as great as the per capita issue of daily newspapers in the state today, probably greater.
It was all edifying or instructional. Up to 1850, no press in Hawaii attempted to present anything for mere entertainment.
The early collections of Hawaiian stories could be read for enjoyment, but they were issued as history or ethnology.
The first attempt at publishing a popular work was a failure. Even this was also edifying, John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," which has been read by 20 generations of English-speakers for its adventure.
However, the translation into Hawaiian in 1842 was a failure, as Bunyan's allegorical concepts like the Slough of Despond only puzzled Hawaiians. Though much of the ambitious edition of 10,000 was pulped, it did not sell out until 1960.
By 1850, an impressive amount of information about Hawaii, some of it reliable, was available in English, French, Dutch, Danish, German, Swedish, Russian and Italian. Hardly anything in Spanish, though.
Although the world's literature and philosophy (except the Bible) was still, literally, a closed book to Hawaiians, by 1850 they too had an impressive library of information on history, geography, mathematics, surveying, astronomy, zoology, botany, drawing and music to read.
Some of it translated oddly, such as the story of George Washington and the pear tree in "O ke Kokua no ko Hawaii poe kamalii e ao ana i Ka olelo Beritania," an 1843 student's guide to learning English; but the Hawaiians were on their way to becoming, in late kingdom times, what historian Gavan Daws has cited as one of the few societies in which almost everyone was literate in two languages.
Forbes's bibliography is published in partnership with the Sydney antiquarian bookseller Hordern House.

A great combination of scholarship and educated speculation. The authors approach the formations in multiple ways -- from describing the qualities of the rocks on which the petroglyphs are drawn, to the similarities of technique and composition of groupings across the islands. They provide an in-depth analysis of the grouping at Puuloa, which involved burying of the umbilical stump to insure long life for the newborn child. The comprehensive listing of petroglyph sites on all the Hawaiian islands is invaluable for those of us who would like to search out multiple sites.

This book includes a great variety of patterns in various sizes--pillow, wall hanging and larger quilt sizes. There are also a great number of pictures and many have patterns in the back. I have not made any of the patterns in this book however I have made about 15-18 designs from other Poakalani books am still comfortable giving this book a great review. If you've read other books by Poakalani than you will be familiar with her background and techniques offered for this style of quilting. This book does go further into depth about Hawaiian quilting and shows a much wider variety of Hawaiian quilts/patterns than other Poakalani books--this book will add to your Hawaiian quilt pattern collection and knowledge/foundation. The patterns range from beginner level to advanced-intermediate. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys applique. I would love to see Poakalani or another Hawaiian quilt artist write a book about how to design my own Hawaiian quilt design.

I am Hawaiian, and was so surprised to see this book also printed in Japanese. Surprised and extreemly pleased as the collection is one of the best published. It is difficult for non-residents to understand just how difficult it can be to get any information about Hawaiian quilts, as families frequently are reluctant to be specific to "outsiders". This inhibition has relaxed over time, and the addition of the modern quilts, the inclusion of the biographies is especially wonderful, as some of these women are known to myself.The colours in the photography and the details included make this book a must have for anyone interested in this art form. It was in 1979 that my Mother-in-law took me to the American Art Museum in NY City, and we were thrilled at the exhibit. I had not since then seen such a collection of Hawaiian quilts displayed to such advantage. I only wish this was available in an hardbound edition, as mine is getting somewhat dogeard, much to my dismay, but also my delight, as my children are picking the one's they want.

If you love Hawaiian quilting--this is a volume you shouldn't miss. This is not a "how to" manual. It is a history of classic Hawaiin quilts accompanied by color plates that left me spellbound. The designs are incredible and well worth study. I've held a fascination with the possible direct connection between early Hawaiian quilts and the Baltimore Album quilts of the the Eastern coast. This may be the only book with color plates of some of these beautiful early quilts that would offer clues to this connection. My favorite designs in this volume are Anthurium by Mary Manoi and Coconut and Pineapple by Meali'i Kalama. It is of no consequence to me that this is not an instructional manual as I do not anticipate ever being able to quilt one of these masterpieces. It is, however, a one of a kind book and I urge you to treat yourself while it remains in print. Mary Z. Cox