Books for Keiki
A picture book retells a traditional Hawaiian tale

By Jolie Jean Cotton

The shark god threatens to eat the canoe-builder and his wife, who have come to plead for help for their children. David Shannon

In this new release, Caldecott Honor artist David Shannon and powerful storyteller Rafe Martin, a frequently featured guest at Hawai'i's Talking Island Storytelling Festival, pair up for a spellbinding picture book based on the traditional Hawaiian tale.

Martin says he used the storytelling festival for cultural background, wandering around to listen to others between his own performances.

"I also researched, through conversation and reading, all I could on the interactions of sharks and people in Hawaiian culture, as well as the deep connection the island community has with the sea," Martin said. "Some of it was as simple as snorkeling and seeing for myself the color of the water, of the sky and of the black lava."

The story begins when a brother and sister untangle a shark from a net and set it free. Racing along the beach, excited by their triumph, the two happen upon the king's drum. Although they know it's forbidden, the children wish to play the drum to celebrate:

"The children stepped closer. They looked. They reached out — and lightly touched the drum. Such a soft sound it made, like the faintest patter of summer rain on green leaves far, far away."

However, the children are seized by the king's guards and sentenced to death. In desperation, their parents go to the cavern of the fearsome shark god for help.

This engaging, suspenseful morality tale is masterfully told. The artist's style and composition bring to mind the works of Gauguin. Bold Hawaiian figures and sun-drenched scenes explode off the page and Shannon pays close attention to stunning feathered cloaks, helmets and detailed tattoos.

A final author's note explains changes made to the traditional tale.

"The Big Nap" by Bruce Hale; Harcourt, ages 8-12, $14, hardcover

Former Hawai'i resident and frequent visitor Bruce Hale has created a solid following with his Chet Gecko mystery series. Hale's books are pure entertainment, packed with smart aleck puns, campy one liners and thoroughly gratifying sarcasm. Here our protagonist describes a slice of his school day:

"If classrooms were drugstore products, Mr. Ratnose's class would be SnorMore, the cure for insomnia.

"Right and left of me, eyelids drooped like spaghetti from yesterday's food fight. Shirley Chameleon slumbered behind her book. Waldo the furball looked like he was hibernating.

"And then Mr. Ratnose ratcheted up the snooze factor. 'It's science time, boys and girls!'"

The Big Nap is Hale's fourth book, in which Emerson Hicky Elementary's fourth-grade gumshoe attempts to figure out why all the students are acting like zombies. Someone is hypnotizing the students and turning them into "mindless goody-goodies." All clues point to the new librarian, Aloyicious Theonlyset Bunk. But with the help of his assistant, a mockingbird named Natalie, Chet discovers who is really responsible for the students' unusual behavior.

Hale adds to the fun with his own cartoon-style black-and-white sketches that perfectly portray his zany characters.

Book news

• Smithsonian magazine includes Manoa author and illustrator James Rumford's new picture book, "Traveling Man," on its 2001 list of Notable Books for Children. And last week's New York Times Book Review raved about Rumford's latest title, writing, in part:

  "James Rumford's 'Traveling Man' is a wonder, evoking in watercolors, maps and gorgeous sprays of Arabic calligraphy the amazing journey of Ibn Battuta, the celebrated 14th-century scholar and cultural geographer from Tangier who spent 29 years wandering through Africa, the Middle East and Asia ..."

• The December issue of award-winning Cricket literary magazine (for ages 9-14) highlights local talent. "To a Christmas Place," by E. Shan Correa of East Honolulu, is set in Hawai'i. It's the delightful tale of a boy's longing for a magical kite.

  Honolulu illustrator Christine Joy Pratt's signature scratchboard art also complements a story from the Marshall Islands by Bo Flood. "Tree of Plenty, The Coconut Palm," by Bo Flood with art by Christine Joy Pratt, tells about the very first tree that came to the Pacific.