Home

I-see-color-cover
Kamalani Hurley

Book Review: I See Color, by Valerie Bolling and Kailei Pew 

Author Valerie Bollingʻs pic­ture books are always great choic­es for kids. Her col­or­ful, lyri­cal ear­ly read­ers and pic­ture books focus on the joys and tri­umphs of child­hood. Her first non-fic­­tion pic­ture book is a col­lec­tion of bio­graph­i­cal sketch­es, I See Col­or: An Affir­ma­tion and Cel­e­bra­tion of Our Diverse World. The col­lec­tion’s short yet engag­ing for­mat makes it the per­fect intro­duc­tion of short biogra­phies to chil­dren. I am delight­ed that our own Native Hawai­ian activist and schol­ar, the late Dr. Hau­­nani-Kay Trask is one of the book’s fea­tured unsung heroes. 

Read More » 
Kamalani Hurley

Interview with Native Hawaiian Author Kealani Netane 

If you rec­og­nize Native Hawaiian/Sāmoan writer Kealani Netane’s name, you’re prob­a­bly a fan of her pop­u­lar book­sta­gram, Lit­tle Pasi­fi­ka Read­ers. Or you might you rec­og­nize her from her thought­ful blog posts at Pacif­ic Islanders in Pub­lish­ing. Now add chil­dren’s book author to her list of pro­fes­sion­al accom­plish­ments. Her won­der­ful debut pic­ture book, TALA LEARNS TO SIVA (Scholas­tic, 2024) is the sweet­est sto­ry of a child’s desire to dance the tra­di­tion­al Sāmoan taualu­ga just as like grace­ful aunt. Through engag­ing text and beau­ti­ful illus­tra­tions by award-win­n­ing illus­tra­tor Dung Ho, young read­ers learn, like Tala, that they can do any­thing with prac­tice and patience. We are thrilled to talk sto­ry with Kealani today.

Read More » 
Yuko-green
Kamalani Hurley

Interview with Author/Illustrator Yuko Green 

Pick up any pop­u­lar chil­dren’s book in Hawai’i, and chances are that it is illus­trat­ed by Yuko Green. The award-win­n­ing author/illustrator of dozens of chil­dren’s pic­ture and activ­i­ty books, Yuko’s mixed-media art­work is unmis­tak­able with its vibrant col­ors and delight­ful sub­jects that chil­dren love. Her work cel­e­brates the peo­ple, nature, and tra­di­tions of our islands. We are so pleased to talk sto­ry with Yuko Green today.

Read More » 
Catherine-Payne
Kamalani Hurley

Interview with Native Hawaiian/Guamanian Author Catherine Payne 

Native Hawaiian/Guamanian author Cather­ine Payne lives by the ancient Chamor­ro mak­ing things right. An impor­tant part of inafaʻ maolek is that the whole com­mu­ni­ty, not just the nuclear fam­i­ly, is respon­si­ble for rais­ing healthy, hap­py chil­dren. The author of five chil­dren’s books, Cathy believes that pic­ture books can be key to open­ing con­ver­sa­tions between chil­dren and grown-ups. We cer­tain­ly agree. Wel­come, Cathy, to our talk story! 

Read More » 
Megan-Kamalei-Kakimoto
Kamalani Hurley

Interview with Native Hawaiian Author Megan Kamalei Kakimoto 

Native Hawai­ian author Megan Kamalei Kaki­mo­to is a rare lit­er­ary gem: a sto­ry­teller of YA and adult sub­ject mat­ter that is authen­ti­cal­ly root­ed in Native Hawai­ian life expe­ri­ences. Her USA Today Nation­al Best­seller, Every Drop is a Man’s Night­mare, is a short sto­ry col­lec­tion that review­ers describe as “pow­er­ful com­ing-of-age sto­ries,” “rich and wise, hum­ming with con­fi­dence,” and “a blaz­ing, rau­cous jour­ney through con­tem­po­rary Hawai­ian iden­ti­ty and wom­an­hood.” We are so pleased to talk sto­ry with Megan today.

Read More »