Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 3, 1 March 2007 — Lono and the Magical Land Beneath the Sea [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Lono and the Magical Land Beneath the Sea

I By Caren Loebel-Fried Bishop Museum Press $14.95

Caren LoehelI Fried's lush block-print art | jumps off of every page in

this wondertul children s book, whieh tells one of many mo'olelo about Lono, the Hawaiian god of peaee, agriculture and fertility. In this story, Lono abandons his attempts at fishing after snagging his line and breaking several hooks. Curious, Lono jumps into the sea and swims down to a supernatural world, where he learns about exotic plants, such as kalo, mai'a (banana) and 'uala (sweet potato), all of whieh he takes back to his home and plants along the west coast of Hawai'i Island. The story is an adaptation of a mo 'olelo translated by Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pūku'i, and the original Hawaiian text is also included at the end of the book. Also available is a set of 12 note cards featuring artwork from Lono.