Book Review: Tala Learns to Siva

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There’s some­thing mag­i­cal about chil­dren’s books writ­ten by Native Hawai­ian and Pacif­ic Island authors.

Until recent­ly, sto­ries about our com­mu­ni­ties told by our peo­ple were large­ly miss­ing in chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture. Thank­ful­ly, the times are chang­ing, and more voic­es are emerg­ing to tell our own sto­ries. The best of these nar­ra­tives sing with heart and authen­tic­i­ty that comes from being root­ed in the community.

Tala Learns to Siva is one of those sto­ries. This delight­ful Pacif­ic Island sto­ry by tal­ent­ed author Kealani Netane deserves a space not just on a child’s book­shelf but on school library shelves everywhere. 

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Illus­tra­tion @ Dung Ho from Tala Learns to Siva by Kealani Netane (Scholastic/Orchard Books, 2024)

Young Tala watch­es her Aun­ty Siva per­form the tra­di­tion­al Samoan taualu­ga. Cap­ti­vat­ed by her aun­t’s grace and beau­ty, Tala asks her to teach her to dance in time for her grand­moth­er’s birth­day par­ty. But as with most things worth learn­ing, what at first seems easy actu­al­ly takes work and prac­tice. Will Tala learn to dance in time to share her siva with her grand­moth­er? She decides to do her best.

Like all good sto­ries for chil­dren, Tala Learns to Siva res­onates with young read­ers every­where. They will eas­i­ly relate to the uni­ver­sal sto­ry of the young pro­tag­o­nist’s deter­mi­na­tion to over­come her doubts and fears. Tala prac­tices every­where she goes and works hard to mas­ter the hand and foot move­ments. But it’s when Tala under­stands that the dance con­nects her to her ances­tors that she tru­ly begins to shine.

Tala-and-Family
Illus­tra­tion @ Dung Ho from Tala Learns to Siva by Kealani Netane (Scholastic/Orchard Books, 2024)

The illus­tra­tions by New York Times best­selling illus­tra­tor Dung Ho are col­or­ful and vibrant. The art beau­ti­ful­ly invites the read­er to become a part of Tala’s island family.

Two spreads are my par­tic­u­lar favorites. I love the dance spread on pages 20–21. Both text and art do a won­der­ful job of cap­tur­ing Tala’s joy and tri­umph as she dances the taualu­ga solo for her fam­i­ly and friends. 

And I espe­cial­ly adore the fam­i­ly’s reac­tion to Tala’s solo on page 22. Grow­ing up in Hawai’i, I’ve attend­ed many Samoan par­ties and cel­e­bra­tions, and they often end just as page 22 so effec­tive­ly shows, with elders and oth­ers join­ing in on the fun. This page is my very favorite, I think, because it speaks to me per­son­al­ly, because these folks could be my own friends and neigh­bors. And isn’t being able to relate to a char­ac­ter or to a piece of art what makes a book special?

Tala-dances-solo
Illus­tra­tion @ Dung Ho from Tala Learns to Siva by Kealani Netane (Scholastic/Orchard Books, 2024)

The back mat­ter includes a glos­sary of terms and an author’s note. In it Kealani express­es her love for Samoan dance and tra­di­tions that she grate­ful­ly pass­es on to her children.

Tala Learns to Siva is a won­der­ful intro­duc­tion to Pacif­ic Island cul­ture and a most wor­thy addi­tion to any bookshelf.

Tala Learns to Siva
Writ­ten by Kealani Netane, illus­trat­ed by Dung Ho
Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholas­tic Books, 2024
ISBN 978–1338859317
Sug­gest­ed for ages 4 — 8 

Meet author Kealani Netane in our talk sto­ry interview! 

Please read our dis­claimer to learn our book review pol­i­cy. Mahalo!

Gal­ley review copy and images cour­tesy of Kealani Netane.