Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (1998), 32 pages
Description
Five brothers, each with a special skill, sail across the vast Pacific Ocean to the islands now known as Hawaii.
Local notes
School Library Journal, 05/31/1998
K-Gr 3 Part legend, part history, this original tale evokes the early Polynesian explorers' finding and settling of the Hawaiian Islands. Four brothers, each of whom has a special love and skill, set out on an adventure to find the island below a star they see in the northern sky (Arcturus). Traveling in an outrigger canoe and carrying water and dried foods, they sail steadily for several weeks until a violent storm throws them off course. Manu, the youngest, who has stowed away and whose specialty is birds, leads them to the island by following the flight of the gulls. Told with the spare formulaic structure of a folktale, even to having the youngest brother save the day, the tale has the appeal of a youthful adventure while it uses the five brothers to tell the story of the migration of a whole people. As he did in The Cloudmakers (Houghton, 1996), Rumford appends an explanatory historical note. Here, he tells how the early explorers probably used patterns of winds, currents, and bird migration to guide them through the Pacific from 2500 miles to the south. His strong watercolor paintings are alive with the movement and vibrant light of the sea and sky and the vigor of the young men. Text and pictures are equals in this eloquent and appealing look at island history.
K-Gr 3 Part legend, part history, this original tale evokes the early Polynesian explorers' finding and settling of the Hawaiian Islands. Four brothers, each of whom has a special love and skill, set out on an adventure to find the island below a star they see in the northern sky (Arcturus). Traveling in an outrigger canoe and carrying water and dried foods, they sail steadily for several weeks until a violent storm throws them off course. Manu, the youngest, who has stowed away and whose specialty is birds, leads them to the island by following the flight of the gulls. Told with the spare formulaic structure of a folktale, even to having the youngest brother save the day, the tale has the appeal of a youthful adventure while it uses the five brothers to tell the story of the migration of a whole people. As he did in The Cloudmakers (Houghton, 1996), Rumford appends an explanatory historical note. Here, he tells how the early explorers probably used patterns of winds, currents, and bird migration to guide them through the Pacific from 2500 miles to the south. His strong watercolor paintings are alive with the movement and vibrant light of the sea and sky and the vigor of the young men. Text and pictures are equals in this eloquent and appealing look at island history.
Awards
NCTE Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K—Grade 6 (12th Edition: 1996-1998)