Bring Hawaii Home: Books for Toddlers

Even before we decided to move to Maui we knew it would be a big part of our lives. My husband had lived on the island for over a decade and his mother still did. When we found out we were pregnant we decided to do a Hawaiian themed nursery, part of that was putting together a children's library. We collected lots of books for our daughter that involved Hawaii and Hawaiian culture. Today I'm going to recommend the 5 that she still enjoys regularly 4yrs on.

The first book she really took a shine to was Keiki Counting 1-2-3 even when she was really small she responded to the simple rhymes. This book is an excellent introduction to Hawaiian vocabulary.

The next book she loved (to the point she over enthusiastically destroyed it and we had to tape it back together) was Absolutely Awesome Island Animals . This is an adorable book seemingly written by a baby on Maui's North shore. It has bright big pictures of Hawaii's unique animals with their names in English and Hawaiian along with an easy phonetic pronunciation for those long Hawaiian words. Our favorite is the Nananana Makaki'i or Happy Face Spider. 

 

The next book she loved was Down at the Beach this is a really cute book all about the activities one might see and enjoy on Hawaii's many beaches. It can be read normally, but my daughter preferres it when we sing the words to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus. 

As she got a little older we decided to add in some more Hawaiian vocabulary and she latched on to Mo'o's Colors. This book is full of bright vibrant colors and follows the adventures of a Mo'o (thats the Hawaiian word for Gecko) around the island. It teaches the colors in booth Hawaiian and English as well as some other small Hawaiian words for the things found around us everyday here in the islands. 

 

The last book I'm going to recommend is by far her absolute favorite. We went a long time where it had to be read every night and we still come back to it frequently. The book is Goodnight Hawaiian Moon . It is well written with really beautiful artwork and comes with a lovely CD that contains a Hawaiian language version of the classic Brahms Lullaby. 

 

Thats it for this week, I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and that the new year is treating you right, Until next time Aloha from Maui.