Pirates of Hawaii

Abstract

Until recent years, all who guided children's reading relied upon the "classics," which have received general acceptance as worthy literature; or else they relied upon the books which they had found satisfactory during their own early reading. We want from books what people have thought and felt about the questions that concern us, without regard to the time or place in which they lived. We must help the child find his place in the hopes, aspirations, and dreams of his age. Insofar as he is able to do so he must, through his reading, understand the past experiences and thought of all races. However anxiously we wish to cultivate out children's taste for the best in literature we will have to be patient. Good taste develops slowly and through successive stages. The important thing is that whatever a child reads must have meaning and value for him end he must know how to find the books which have this meaning and value. The author was a teacher for many years in the western Islands and came to know, understand, and love the natives and their way of life. Long before the bombing of Pearl Harbor she had come to feel that there was a need for a greater understanding between the children of America and the children of Hawaii. As a result her first book. Children of Hawaii, was written. Pirates of Hawaii, fresh and original In treatment. Is an experiment to meet a deep need of childhood. The author has attempted to give a picture of real Hawaiian life and a sympathetic appreciation of the past through the legends and folklore of the Hawaiian people. For instance the legends of the menehunes, the Goddess Pele, and the old man who appears through-out the story are as common to the Hawaiian child as the American folk tales; Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, George Washington and the Cherry Tree are to the American child. It Is her hope that this book will give the child a reading pleasure that might lead on to the more enduring books. But if It does not lead on to better things the child has a good wholesome story and that In Itself Is justified.