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The Musubi Man: Hawai‘i's Gingerbread Man
TAKAYAMA, Sandi and Pat Hall (illustrator). The Musubi Man: Hawai‘i’s Gingerbread Man. Honolulu, Hawai‘i: Bess Press (P.O. Box 22388, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96823), 1996. [24] pp. ISBN 1-57306-053-4 (hc), $10.95. Illus.
Imagine preparing a musubi, a shaped rice ball wrapped in dried seaweed (nori) that is eaten in Hawai‘i, only to have it come alive and run away from you. That is what happens in The Musubi Man: Hawai‘i’s Gingerbread Man, when a lady creates a musubi man using ingredients used in local Japanese Hawai‘i cooking. The lady puts on the rice ball “limu hair and a little nori jacket, two takuan eyes, an ebi nose, and a smiling mouth of ginger.”
The musubi man comes alive, winks “one yellow takuan eye,” and runs away. An elderly couple, poi dog, mynah bird, and mongoose chase after him, and the musubi man says in pidgin “Run, run, fast as you can! You no can catch me, I'm one musubi man!” He runs away until he reaches the ocean and a hungry-looking surfer, and the story has an unexpected ending.
This creative Hawai‘i- parody of the story “The Gingerbread Man” is written like a fairy tale, beginning with the typical “once upon a time” opener. The reading level of this text is appropriate for the children audience ages six to eight. The repetition of the text, such as the musubi man repeating his gingerbread-man-like taunts, provides a consistent rhythm throughout the book, making the story fun to read aloud to children.
This delightful and fun 24-page trade book presents local Hawai‘i culture to readers with the use of Hawai‘i Creole Language and a glossary that explains the Japanese and local Hawai‘i words used in the story. The Musubi Man taunts in pidgin to the mongoose, one of the pursuers, “No way I going stop for you!” The use of pidgin in the book feels authentic and not forced.
Pat Hall skillfully illustrates Hawai‘i’s natural habitat and animals using watercolors, colored pencils, and markers. Readers will recognize the story’s setting in Hawai‘i with the illustrations of a taro patch, beach, mountains, and fauna including coconut and papaya trees.
The Musubi Man has sold over 25,000 copies since its release in 2006, and the publisher Bess Press released two sequels: The Musubi Man’s New Friend and The Musubi Baby. In the beginning of 2009, the Hawai‘i Theatre for Youth performed an adaptation of The Musubi Man written by playwright Lee Cataluna.
Author Sandi Takayama, a school librarian in Kapolei, Hawai‘i, has written other Hawai‘i adaptations of fairy tales with alternate endings including Sumorella: A Hawai‘i Cinderella Story and The Prince and the Li Hing Mui.
Hall, an artist based in Hawai‘i, has illustrated other children’s books set in Hawai‘i including Curious Kimo, The Kona-Town Musicians, and a few coloring books featuring Hawai‘i’s animals. Hall also has her artworks exhibited around Hawai‘i and have won several awards for her art works.
The Musubi Man is recommended for readers ages six to eight and is a recommended purchase for local Hawai‘i children’s book collections.
Submitted in October 2009 by Alice Kim, Master of Library and Information Science Student, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
Imagine preparing a musubi, a shaped rice ball wrapped in dried seaweed (nori) that is eaten in Hawai‘i, only to have it come alive and run away from you. That is what happens in The Musubi Man: Hawai‘i’s Gingerbread Man, when a lady creates a musubi man using ingredients used in local Japanese Hawai‘i cooking. The lady puts on the rice ball “limu hair and a little nori jacket, two takuan eyes, an ebi nose, and a smiling mouth of ginger.”
The musubi man comes alive, winks “one yellow takuan eye,” and runs away. An elderly couple, poi dog, mynah bird, and mongoose chase after him, and the musubi man says in pidgin “Run, run, fast as you can! You no can catch me, I'm one musubi man!” He runs away until he reaches the ocean and a hungry-looking surfer, and the story has an unexpected ending.
This creative Hawai‘i- parody of the story “The Gingerbread Man” is written like a fairy tale, beginning with the typical “once upon a time” opener. The reading level of this text is appropriate for the children audience ages six to eight. The repetition of the text, such as the musubi man repeating his gingerbread-man-like taunts, provides a consistent rhythm throughout the book, making the story fun to read aloud to children.
This delightful and fun 24-page trade book presents local Hawai‘i culture to readers with the use of Hawai‘i Creole Language and a glossary that explains the Japanese and local Hawai‘i words used in the story. The Musubi Man taunts in pidgin to the mongoose, one of the pursuers, “No way I going stop for you!” The use of pidgin in the book feels authentic and not forced.
Pat Hall skillfully illustrates Hawai‘i’s natural habitat and animals using watercolors, colored pencils, and markers. Readers will recognize the story’s setting in Hawai‘i with the illustrations of a taro patch, beach, mountains, and fauna including coconut and papaya trees.
The Musubi Man has sold over 25,000 copies since its release in 2006, and the publisher Bess Press released two sequels: The Musubi Man’s New Friend and The Musubi Baby. In the beginning of 2009, the Hawai‘i Theatre for Youth performed an adaptation of The Musubi Man written by playwright Lee Cataluna.
Author Sandi Takayama, a school librarian in Kapolei, Hawai‘i, has written other Hawai‘i adaptations of fairy tales with alternate endings including Sumorella: A Hawai‘i Cinderella Story and The Prince and the Li Hing Mui.
Hall, an artist based in Hawai‘i, has illustrated other children’s books set in Hawai‘i including Curious Kimo, The Kona-Town Musicians, and a few coloring books featuring Hawai‘i’s animals. Hall also has her artworks exhibited around Hawai‘i and have won several awards for her art works.
The Musubi Man is recommended for readers ages six to eight and is a recommended purchase for local Hawai‘i children’s book collections.
Submitted in October 2009 by Alice Kim, Master of Library and Information Science Student, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
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