Island below the Star - Softcover

Rumford, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1891839438 ISBN 13: 9781891839436

Publisher: Manoa Press, 2016

Synopsis

Island below the Star: a poem of praise for the peoples of the Pacific.“See, my brothers, that bright star up there. There’s an island below it. Let us sail to it.”Little Manu was the first to speak. “I’ll go with you,” he said.And so begins the story of how the first people sailed to Hawai‘i, crossing vast stretches of ocean without compass or map to discover new lands. Island below the Star is a revised edition of The Island-below-the-Star, which was published in 1998 and praised in The New York Times as one of the ten best children’s books of that year.Island below the Star is also published in the Hawaiian language under the title Ka ‘Aina ma lalo o ka Hoku.James Rumford, who makes his home in Honolulu, has written and illustrated over twenty books since his first book, The Cloudmakers, was published in 1996. His books have been translated into over a half dozen languages and have received numerous awards for excellence in illustration, story, and design.

About this title

About the Author

Master storyteller James Rumford combines his love for art and history in his picture books. Each of his books is vastly different in its content, design, and illustrations but one aspect remains constant throughout his work: his passion about his subjects. Rumford, a resident of Hawaii, has studied more than a dozen languages and worked in the Peace Corps, where he traveled to Africa, Asia, and Afghanistan. He draws from these experiences and the history of his subject when he is working on a book. His book Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing was a 2005 Sibert Honor winner.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3APart 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.ASally Margolis, Barton Public Library, VT
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Manoa Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1891839438
• ISBN 13: 9781891839436
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 40