Han, Carolyn. Koa’s Seed. Ewa Beach, Hawaii: BeachHouse Publishing (PO Box 2926, Ewa Beach, Hawaii 96706), 2004. 32 pages. ISBN 1-933067-02-0 (HC). $14.95. Illus (col).

A unique approach to a traditional tale, Koa’s Seed adapts a long-established children’s story of courage and honesty to the Hawaiian culture. At first glance, the reader is met with warm illustrations of ancient Hawaii in a romantic approach to a changing legacy. First introduced is the aging ali’i, or leader, for a village of “long, long ago” Hawaiians. He sees the need to pick an heir to carry on his leadership, but surprises the people with a new approach. All the men of the town, including our hero, Koa, are given a seed to grow. The plant would be inspected by the ali’i after the year passed and the leader chosen. Unfortunately for Koa, his seed does not grow despite all his efforts and the apparent success of his competitors. When the day comes to show off his “plant,” he is encouraged by his mother to keep his promise and present his hard work despite his “failure.” The story takes a surprising twist when the ali’i announces that all the seeds were boiled—which made them impossible to grow—and Koa was the only one to try and grow his original seed. The ali’i shares that a true leader makes every effort toward integrity and courage—the characteristics worn by Koa.

Completely leaving the tendency for moralistic stories to be pedantic, the author’s approach to instilling character into children is subtle and engaging. Carolyn Han, award winning author of several short stories, poems, and books, uses her expertise in comparative literature to formulate this timeless book. She is a University of Hawaii at Hilo graduate who teaches at Hawaii Community College in Hilo. Her experience in China, teaching and collecting oral stories, laid the ground-work to reinvent a classic story with the Hawaiian culture edge. Han is the author and compiler of several other culturally influenced books, including The Demon King and Other Festival Folktales of China, From the Land of Sheba: Yemen Folktales, and Why Snails Have Shells: Minority and Han Folktales of China. Other Hawaiian themed titles are Kalapana and Ponopono.

Laced throughout the book is imagery that captures Hawaiian culture in the description of everyday things (“…whose once dark hair had turned the color of bleached shells”/ “…his fierce-looking eyebrows stuck out like tufts of dried sea grass.”) Several Hawaiian words are introduced to the reader with a definition to follow (ali’i, a leader or hale, a house), giving the book educational depth. However, while the title seems most appropriate for young children, the vocabulary seems to be at a higher level than what is insinuated by the style of writing (successor, dilemma, substituted). While it may be a good idea to introduce vocabulary in context to young readers, too much may overwhelm them. Aside from these small complaints, the story flows smoothly from one scene to the next, and there is a surprising amount of character development considering the brevity of the story.

The illustrator, Kathleen B. Peterson, is a known artist of 19 other books and founding director of the Central Utah Art Center. Her muted, warm images depict everyday life for early Hawaiians while respecting the traditional concepts of the book. Though the illustrations fit well to the text, they do not stand alone in expressing the emotions of the characters. The faces seem relaxed and thoughtful throughout despite the lead character’s wide range of emotions from discouragement and embarrassment to honor and joy.

Koa’s Seed would be particularly useful to teachers or librarians planning a lesson in character development, including themes of integrity, courage, and hard work. The book can be used as a great discussion starter without being preachy or trite. It is refreshing to have the Hawaiian culture so intricately woven through a cross-cultural story. Readers would do well to add this book to their collections. Slightly more developed and poignant, Demi’s The Empty Pot (H. Holt, 1990) provides the same traditional story in the original Chinese rendition.