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Related Links
Yee, Tammy. Baby Honu Saves the Day. Aiea: Island Heritage, 1999.
The second book of the Baby Honu series tells the story of how Baby Honu rescues a beached dolphin. Even though Baby Honu is initially unsuccessful in persuading all the sea creatures to help him in his cause, following an inspirational talk with a seemingly insignificant coral polyp, he manages to set off a chain of events that eventually ends with the saving of the stranded dolphin. This book teaches children the importance of never giving up and shows that even the smallest actions, when summed together, can have a meaningful result.
Yee, Tammy. Baby Honu’s Incredible Journey. Waipahu: Island Heritage, 1997.
This popular Hawai’ian children’s book is the first of the Baby Honu series. Covering the initial few days of Baby Honu’s life from egg to abduction to reunification with his family, it truly is an incredible journey that readers of all ages can appreciate. In addition to the heart-warming story, Yee provides brilliant illustrations of Hawai’ian marine life that help bring the story to life.
Yee, Tammy. Iki, the Littlest ‘Opihi. Aiea: Island Heritage, 1998.
On the surface this tale is about a tiny little limpet and his underwater adventures. The young molluscum meets many creatures on his voyage culminating with an encounter from a local limpet picker. ‘Opihi learns how powerful determination and perseverance can get you through even the toughest of circumstances. This lesson then takes on even greater significance through the allegoric interpretation that Yee has fostered where the story then echoes Hawai’ian relations with other nations.
Yee, Tammy. Island-style Alphabet. Aiea: Island Heritage, 2000.
A standard alphabet book with a little twist: it is all about Hawai’i. Instead of “A is for apple” each letter A through Z is now represented by a Hawai’ian focused word. Along with these incorporations of Hawai’ian culture, each letter also has a short poem describing a wonderfully illustrated scene full of words starting with that letter. A great new variation on the classic alphabet book, it mixes together the two official languages of Hawai’i as seamlessly as the mixture of cultures inhabiting this land.
Yee, Tammy. Keiki Counting 1, 2, 3. Aiea: Island Heritage, 1999.
This book is an elementary counting book that gives both the Hawai’ian and English versions of the Arabic numerals 1-10. It also offers a short engaging sentence for each number and colorful pictures to represent the number visually as well as textually.
Yee, Tammy. The Ugly ‘Elepaio. Aiea: Island Heritage, 1998.
Just as in the classic Ugly Duckling tale that this story adapts, The Ugly ‘Elepaio teaches readers the importance of acceptance of differences and pride in one’s self. Yee succeeds in retelling this popular tale with a more Hawai’ian theme so both native and foreign children can simultaneously appreciate and learn about the rich culture and wilderness this land has to offer.
The expression of Hawai’ian Nationalism has surfaced throughout history in many different mediums; most prominently as political essays, organized protests, and activist poetry. But although these aggressive modes may more aptly draw the attention of the public’s eye, it is in a more subtle manifestation of nationalism, that present in the literature for children, where true hope for the deliverance of a people so mistreated and abused can be found. The works of Tammy Yee, and other native born children’s book authors, express Hawai’ian nationalism in a form that is easily absorbed and appreciated by the youth of Hawai’i and will therefore have the greatest impact on the nation’s future.
As established in the United States’ official apology, public law 107-150, before the first European invasion of Hawai’i in 1778, the thriving native peoples had established a civilized society, culture, and language (2). One of the key features of national children’s literature is the incorporation of this native language. In Keiki Counting 1, 2, 3 Yee presents the Arabic numerals one to ten along side the Hawai’ian words for each number. Also she offers an English sentence for each number with some Hawai’ian words stuck in alongside vivid illustrations and translated at the bottom of each page. The number 1/’Ekahi for example is accompanied by “One lively Keiki, dancing to a mele...Keiki – child, Mele – song” (1). Reading this book affords learning of both the English and Hawai’ian words for the first ten numbers and also, through pictorial and literal translations, the learning of several other Hawai’ian words.
On the surface this book serves the nationalistic purpose of preserving the native Hawai’ian tongue, but more thorough analysis reveals yet another way in which this book fosters national pride. The scenes depicted for each number embody a very distinctly Hawai’ian feeling. The aforementioned Keiki is quite obviously of native descent and is performing a traditional hula dance adorned with a flower crown and matching lei. With her illustrations Yee goes beyond preserving the Hawai’ian language and strives to preserve the Hawai’ian culture as well. This trend, of incorporating the native language and irrefutably Hawai’ian images, continues in all of Tammy Yee’s books.
Island-Style Alphabet is no exception and it begins with a telling dedication to the children of Hawai’i:
“In this land of warm aloha, you will surely find
A melting pot on every isle; our cultures intertwined.
Poi and laulau, vinha d’alhos, lumpia and kalbi,
Hot pastels, dim sum, saimin and Spam musubi.
For the Keiki of Hawai’i, this is dedicated–
Your precious island heritage is always celebrated!”
Here Yee promotes acceptance of all the diverse peoples living on the Hawai’ian Islands and even suggests they are inseparable. The warm aloha, the intertwined cultures, the different foods of the many cultural origins all mixed together. This dedication then necessarily complicates the concept of sole nationalism by asking the question of who is truly Hawai’ian. Is “your precious island heritage” the heritage of the native Hawai’ians exclusively, or is this heritage inherently shared by all inhabitants of Hawai’i, integrally connected and joined together under the banner of aloha. It is this latter postulate that prevails when Yee chooses rainbow to represent the letter R in her Island-Style alphabet. With the universal symbol of unity spanning majestically above eighteen Hawai’ian children of mixed origins all joined together, Yee exposes a crucial aspect of Hawai’ian nationalism:
“We all admire the rainbows reaching across the sky.
Radiant arches of color painted way up high!
But don’t forget the rainbow see upon the faces
Of all the keiki of Hawai’i; their aloha will embrace us” (24-25).
To be Hawai’ian is independent of one’s connection to the native inhabitants. It requires only that the one adheres to the most fundamental principle of the Hawai’ian nation, aloha for all.
In another book, Iki, the Littlest ‘Opihi, Tammy Yee portrays the wondrous wildlife and habitats of Hawai’i in a charming tale about a tiny limpet. The artistry of Yee truly captures the beautiful scenes of the islands whose long sandy beaches and bright coral reefs inspire such a strong national pride.
The story begins as Iki is washed out to sea by a large wave. The little limpet drifts through the ocean until finally settling down on the base of a coral reef. Iki then encounters many animals on his way back to the shore. First a shark swims by, but Iki is too small for the shark to notice so he is not worried. Next he encounters an octopus but is again too small to be noticed and he does not worry. Then he sees a crab coming and Iki is unsure if the crab will notice him and gets worried. The crab does indeed notice him but instead of eating him he places Iki on his shell and carries him to the shore. Back on the shore, Iki has his final encounter, this time with a limpet picker. After successfully prying off several other limpets from the rocks, the picker focuses his attention on little Iki. Right as he begins to pry Iki off the rock with his knife, a huge wave comes and Iki tries as hard as he can to stick to the rock. The picker is knocked over by the wave but holds on firmly to his knife, still wedged under Iki. Finally the wave passes and the picker is saved by Iki’s determination to hold on. Then, as a gesture of gratitude, the picker puts back all the other limpets he had picked and Iki is a hero.
At first this story seems to simply support the moral of determination, a key concept for maintaining nationalism in the presence of the many hardships Hawai’i faces. But the real value of the story comes when one identifies the connection of Iki to the Hawai’ian Islands. Having done that, it becomes clear that Yee is conveying the stress foreign relations have had on Hawai’ian nationalism through this allegoric tale about a tiny limpet and his numerous encounters. The initial voyage of Iki represents the geographic separation of Hawai’i form the mainland. Then, as he is out at sea, Iki is passed up by several animals because he is too small and Iki does not worry. Here the time period of pre-European invasion is being recognized as the island was too small to have been discovered yet and the inhabitants had no worries of foreign invasion. Then when Iki meets the crab, it represents the US in its early relations with Hawai’i. Here the crab is friendly and brings Iki back to the shore just as the US brought Hawai’i back to the mainland with its cultural influences and political treaties. Finally Iki meets the picker, who is snatching up all the other sovereign limpets. When he gets to Iki, however, he can not pull him from the rock. Iki is so determined to hold on, to not lose his sense of national pride that the picker can not separate him from the rock. Eventually, after the wave passes, Iki’s perseverance pays off and the picker decides to leave Iki alone and put back all of the other limpets he had picked. Here Yee is calling to her people, telling them not to give up, to hold onto their nationalism and never let it go. She is optimistic that the wave will recede and the United States will someday remove its knife to allow Hawai’i its sovereignty once more.
Bibliography
103d Congress Joint Resolution 19. Pub. L. 103-150. 23 Nov. 1993. Stat. 1510.
Yee, Tammy. Iki, the Littlest ‘Opihi. Aiea: Island Heritage, 1998.
Yee, Tammy. Island-style Alphabet. Aiea: Island Heritage, 2000.
Yee, Tammy. Keiki Counting 1, 2, 3. Aiea: Island Heritage, 1999.