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Kamehameha: The Boy Who Became a Warrior King
Crowe, Ellie and Don Robinson (illustrator). Kamehameha: The Boy Who Became a Warrior King. Island Heritage (94-411 Ko’aki Street, Waipahu, Hawaii 96797, U.S.A.), 2003. 44pp. ISBN 0-89610-567-9 (hc), $19.95. Bib. Illus (col).
Ellie Cowe’s Kamehameha: The Boy Who Became a Warrior King introduces the life of Pai’ea, later called Kamehameha the Great, from his childhood up to his early youth including his first battle. Pai’ea was born on the night a fiery comet streaked across the sky. People believed this event to have been a sign that one day he would become a powerful warrior, a conqueror. His mother, fearful that his jealous uncle King Alapa’i would kill Pai’ea, entrusted the baby to warrior Nae’ole to rear him in hiding. Pai’ea was about five years of age when Nae’ole took him back to his parents. Together with his rival cousin Keawe’opala he trained to be a warrior. At eleven, after his father’s death, he and Nae’ole were taken to Ka’u on the Island of Hawaii where he continued training under his uncle Kalani’opu’u. The book ends with the accounts of Kamehameha’s first battle against Maui’s Chief Kahekili and of being the first to ever move the Naha Stone.
This biographical picture book is an excellent introduction to the early life of King Kamehameha, suitable for ages five and above. The large 9”x12” book has colorful, dramatic artwork that brings the narrative to life interspersed with Hawaiian words and mixed with dialogue. The illustrations are mostly arranged opposite the page of the narrative, except for a few instances where they cover the spread of both pages with the text printed on a whitish rectangular area over the illustration. This smooth integration of text and illustrations is sure to captivate the intended audience, making this resource an excellent one for large group read-aloud. The content is accurate, with few minor inconsistencies such as the events of the first battle and the moving of the Naha Stone, which appear to have happened in reverse chronological order according to one of the resources used by the author, Kamehameha: The Warrior King of Hawaii. The latter resource also alludes to the Naha Stone as weighing “hundreds of pounds” versus “over five thousand pounds” mentioned in Crowe’s book. The bibliography was examined and found to include detailed authoritative resources of history mixed with legend that included accounts from people whose grandparents had lived in the time of the great warrior. Crowe also consulted University of Hawaii, Hawaiian Studies Professors to help shape the accuracy of the contents and adequacy of the illustrations.
Crowe has lived in Honolulu for fourteen years and is author of historical/travel guides, children’s books and biographies: Duke’s Olympic Feet and The Boy Who Tricked the Ghosts. Unlike the first two biographies, Kamehameha:The Boy Who Became a Warrior King does not include a glossary, only a short account of the remaining life of the King. My only criticism of this book is that although the story fairly includes Kamehameha’s mother in narrative and dialogue, she is excluded from all but one illustration. This absence of the motherly figure from the illustrations gives the book a more “masculine” energy which might be understandable due to the subject. However, the motherly figure, as mentioned and key in Kamehameha’s life, should have also been fairly represented visually for a better balance.
Balancing the elements of accuracy, organization, illustrations, readability, uniqueness, binding and price, this book merits a place in the Hawaiiana and Biography collections of elementary and high schools and public libraries in Hawaii and the Pacific. Highly recommended by this author.
Other Works Mentioned:
Desha, Stephen L. Kamehameha and His Warrior Kekuhaupi’o. Kamehameha School Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2000. Mellen,
Kathleen Dickenson, The Lonely Warrior. Hastings House, New York, NY, 1949.
Williams, Julie Stewart, Kamehameha the Great. Kamehameha Schools / Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, Honolulu, HI, 1993.
Ellie Cowe’s Kamehameha: The Boy Who Became a Warrior King introduces the life of Pai’ea, later called Kamehameha the Great, from his childhood up to his early youth including his first battle. Pai’ea was born on the night a fiery comet streaked across the sky. People believed this event to have been a sign that one day he would become a powerful warrior, a conqueror. His mother, fearful that his jealous uncle King Alapa’i would kill Pai’ea, entrusted the baby to warrior Nae’ole to rear him in hiding. Pai’ea was about five years of age when Nae’ole took him back to his parents. Together with his rival cousin Keawe’opala he trained to be a warrior. At eleven, after his father’s death, he and Nae’ole were taken to Ka’u on the Island of Hawaii where he continued training under his uncle Kalani’opu’u. The book ends with the accounts of Kamehameha’s first battle against Maui’s Chief Kahekili and of being the first to ever move the Naha Stone.
This biographical picture book is an excellent introduction to the early life of King Kamehameha, suitable for ages five and above. The large 9”x12” book has colorful, dramatic artwork that brings the narrative to life interspersed with Hawaiian words and mixed with dialogue. The illustrations are mostly arranged opposite the page of the narrative, except for a few instances where they cover the spread of both pages with the text printed on a whitish rectangular area over the illustration. This smooth integration of text and illustrations is sure to captivate the intended audience, making this resource an excellent one for large group read-aloud. The content is accurate, with few minor inconsistencies such as the events of the first battle and the moving of the Naha Stone, which appear to have happened in reverse chronological order according to one of the resources used by the author, Kamehameha: The Warrior King of Hawaii. The latter resource also alludes to the Naha Stone as weighing “hundreds of pounds” versus “over five thousand pounds” mentioned in Crowe’s book. The bibliography was examined and found to include detailed authoritative resources of history mixed with legend that included accounts from people whose grandparents had lived in the time of the great warrior. Crowe also consulted University of Hawaii, Hawaiian Studies Professors to help shape the accuracy of the contents and adequacy of the illustrations.
Crowe has lived in Honolulu for fourteen years and is author of historical/travel guides, children’s books and biographies: Duke’s Olympic Feet and The Boy Who Tricked the Ghosts. Unlike the first two biographies, Kamehameha:The Boy Who Became a Warrior King does not include a glossary, only a short account of the remaining life of the King. My only criticism of this book is that although the story fairly includes Kamehameha’s mother in narrative and dialogue, she is excluded from all but one illustration. This absence of the motherly figure from the illustrations gives the book a more “masculine” energy which might be understandable due to the subject. However, the motherly figure, as mentioned and key in Kamehameha’s life, should have also been fairly represented visually for a better balance.
Balancing the elements of accuracy, organization, illustrations, readability, uniqueness, binding and price, this book merits a place in the Hawaiiana and Biography collections of elementary and high schools and public libraries in Hawaii and the Pacific. Highly recommended by this author.
Submitted by Greta Martinez, LIS Student, University of Hawaii at Manoa, April 2005.
Other Works Mentioned:
Desha, Stephen L. Kamehameha and His Warrior Kekuhaupi’o. Kamehameha School Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2000. Mellen,
Kathleen Dickenson, The Lonely Warrior. Hastings House, New York, NY, 1949.
Williams, Julie Stewart, Kamehameha the Great. Kamehameha Schools / Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, Honolulu, HI, 1993.
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