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Tütü Nënë: the Hawaiian Mother Goose
RYLL, Debra with Alexis America (Illustrator). Tütü Nënë: the Hawaiian Mother Goose Rhymes. Waipahu: Island Heritage Publishing. (94-411 Kö’aki Street, Waipahu, Hawai’i 96797), 2004. 28p. ISBN 0-93154-860-8 (pa) Illus.
In Tütü Nënë: the Hawaiian Mother Goose Rhymes, Debra Ryll takes traditional European Mother Goose rhymes and gives them a Hawaiian flair. These simple rhymes, great for young children, are full of Hawaiian words and the pidgin English of the islands. The rhyme scheme and the meter are occasionally off; the author rhymes “conch” with “beach” and sometimes includes an extra beat not in the original rhyme. However, the nursery rhymes are well written and well thought out, and include many words that a local child will understand, unlike the “tuffet” and “curds and whey” of the original Mother Goose (“Little Miss Muffet”).
Ryll, a freelance writer from Kaua’i, has published two children’s picture books, in addition to writing articles for newspapers and magazines. Just as she changed the words of traditional Euro-centric Mother Goose nursery rhymes to make sense to the local children of the islands, her other picture book, Goldie and the Three Geckos, does the same thing with another classic European folktale.
Tütü Nënë is an illustrated picture book, with bright colorful pictures of the islands. The illustrations, by Alexis America, are cheerful and appealing, if occasionally disproportionate. The people in the book have a dark skin tones, much like the actual skin tones of children in the islands. America lives in Haleakala on the island of Maui. Along with illustrating children’s books, America illustrates cards, postcards, and murals.
The colorful illustrations are printed on 9-1/2" by 10-1/4" paper; the large size of the hard-bound book makes it perfect for children, and the bright illustrations are sure to catch the eye. The newest printing of the book includes a mini read-along CD. The audio track is read by Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, a local Hawaiian singer. Gilliom has won many Na Hoku Hanohano music awards; “Song of the Year”, “Female Vocalist of the Year,” and “Hawaiian Album of the Year”, and “Group of the Year” with Willie K.; she has also as been nominated for a Grammy in the Hawaiian category. The mini-CD contains 13 minutes of her soothing local voice reading along with the rhymes in the book. After every rhyme, the Hawaiian words in the rhyme are explained. However, the Hawaiian words are not always Hawaiian; some are local pidgin words, and others are from other languages. “Wonton” and “tabis” are called “Hawaiian,” in addition to words like “lava” and “Spam.” In the book, the words are written at the bottom of the page with their translations in English, but in the audio CD, reading the definitions is prefaced by “Hawaiian translations,” and some of the words are definitely not from the Hawaiian language.
The rhymes are fun and wonderfully illustrated, and shortcomings of the picture book are few. Ryll modernizes and localizes the rhymes into something fun for local Island children. Other picture books of this type are “The Best Hawaiian Style Mother Goose Ever: Hawaii’s Version of 14 Very Popular Verses” by Kevin Sullivan, published in 1995, and “Hawaiian Mother Goose: The nonsense rhymes of Tutu Nene” written by Emma Lyons Doyle in the 1940s. Ryll’s book combines the old and the new; America’s illustrations are reminiscent of vintage Hawaiian illustrations, and the rhymes are updated for the modern child. Sullivan’s illustrations are appropriate for young children, with smiling sharks and geckos, even though his rhymes often add or miss beats from the traditional Mother Goose rhymes. Sullivan and Ryll create Hawaiian verses from the traditional verses, but even though they often use the same rhyme to start with, both create very different finished products.
Tütü Nënë has stitched binding and a brightly decorated cover. The binding is decent and well put together, excepting the end leaves which are glued onto the first and last pages of the book, making those two pages difficult to read without folding the end leaves. The hard cover printing has an attachment for the mini CD on the front cover of the book (behind the slip cover, but peeking through it). It could be very easy to lose the CD or rip the slip cover. The price of the book is decent. With the mini-CD, the book costs $15.99, or without it $11.99.
The book will display well in Hawaiian libraries; local children will be delighted to read these rhymes with their local context. Other libraries might like to enrich their children’s collection and choose this book for its cultural perspective. The rhymes are easy to read because of their meter, and close connection to traditional Mother Goose rhymes, and the Hawaiian words are clearly defined. The audio CD will help with pronunciation and meter.
In Tütü Nënë: the Hawaiian Mother Goose Rhymes, Debra Ryll takes traditional European Mother Goose rhymes and gives them a Hawaiian flair. These simple rhymes, great for young children, are full of Hawaiian words and the pidgin English of the islands. The rhyme scheme and the meter are occasionally off; the author rhymes “conch” with “beach” and sometimes includes an extra beat not in the original rhyme. However, the nursery rhymes are well written and well thought out, and include many words that a local child will understand, unlike the “tuffet” and “curds and whey” of the original Mother Goose (“Little Miss Muffet”).
Ryll, a freelance writer from Kaua’i, has published two children’s picture books, in addition to writing articles for newspapers and magazines. Just as she changed the words of traditional Euro-centric Mother Goose nursery rhymes to make sense to the local children of the islands, her other picture book, Goldie and the Three Geckos, does the same thing with another classic European folktale.
Tütü Nënë is an illustrated picture book, with bright colorful pictures of the islands. The illustrations, by Alexis America, are cheerful and appealing, if occasionally disproportionate. The people in the book have a dark skin tones, much like the actual skin tones of children in the islands. America lives in Haleakala on the island of Maui. Along with illustrating children’s books, America illustrates cards, postcards, and murals.
The colorful illustrations are printed on 9-1/2" by 10-1/4" paper; the large size of the hard-bound book makes it perfect for children, and the bright illustrations are sure to catch the eye. The newest printing of the book includes a mini read-along CD. The audio track is read by Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, a local Hawaiian singer. Gilliom has won many Na Hoku Hanohano music awards; “Song of the Year”, “Female Vocalist of the Year,” and “Hawaiian Album of the Year”, and “Group of the Year” with Willie K.; she has also as been nominated for a Grammy in the Hawaiian category. The mini-CD contains 13 minutes of her soothing local voice reading along with the rhymes in the book. After every rhyme, the Hawaiian words in the rhyme are explained. However, the Hawaiian words are not always Hawaiian; some are local pidgin words, and others are from other languages. “Wonton” and “tabis” are called “Hawaiian,” in addition to words like “lava” and “Spam.” In the book, the words are written at the bottom of the page with their translations in English, but in the audio CD, reading the definitions is prefaced by “Hawaiian translations,” and some of the words are definitely not from the Hawaiian language.
The rhymes are fun and wonderfully illustrated, and shortcomings of the picture book are few. Ryll modernizes and localizes the rhymes into something fun for local Island children. Other picture books of this type are “The Best Hawaiian Style Mother Goose Ever: Hawaii’s Version of 14 Very Popular Verses” by Kevin Sullivan, published in 1995, and “Hawaiian Mother Goose: The nonsense rhymes of Tutu Nene” written by Emma Lyons Doyle in the 1940s. Ryll’s book combines the old and the new; America’s illustrations are reminiscent of vintage Hawaiian illustrations, and the rhymes are updated for the modern child. Sullivan’s illustrations are appropriate for young children, with smiling sharks and geckos, even though his rhymes often add or miss beats from the traditional Mother Goose rhymes. Sullivan and Ryll create Hawaiian verses from the traditional verses, but even though they often use the same rhyme to start with, both create very different finished products.
Tütü Nënë has stitched binding and a brightly decorated cover. The binding is decent and well put together, excepting the end leaves which are glued onto the first and last pages of the book, making those two pages difficult to read without folding the end leaves. The hard cover printing has an attachment for the mini CD on the front cover of the book (behind the slip cover, but peeking through it). It could be very easy to lose the CD or rip the slip cover. The price of the book is decent. With the mini-CD, the book costs $15.99, or without it $11.99.
The book will display well in Hawaiian libraries; local children will be delighted to read these rhymes with their local context. Other libraries might like to enrich their children’s collection and choose this book for its cultural perspective. The rhymes are easy to read because of their meter, and close connection to traditional Mother Goose rhymes, and the Hawaiian words are clearly defined. The audio CD will help with pronunciation and meter.
Submitted in April 2006 by Mysti LePage, LIS Student, University of Hawai’i at Mänoa.
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