A Comparison and Contrast of Hawai’i Renditions of Classic

Fairytale Stories

Neslei Garcia

EDUC 652

November 17, 2013

Introduction

Hawai’i is known as the melting pot of the world. It is filled with many different ethnic backgrounds living together in harmony. It is the epitomy of cultures meshing, mixing and exchanging each others’ culture with one another. This gives the children an advantage to interact with many cultures in one place.

In this project, I present a comparison and contrast of 10 books that are remakes of classic fairy tales we have read or heard in our childhood to stories that were Hawai’i remakes and relate it to the cultures that are in Hawai’i.

Kaopuiki, S. (1990). Peter Panini and the search for the Menehune. Kahului, Maui, Hawaii: Hawaiian Island Concepts.

This story is about an adventure of two boys, Peter Panini and his cousin, Kalei, in search of the Menehune. Peter Panini flies to Kaua’i to meet up with Kalei. The boys go into the forest of Kaua’i, searching high and low for the Menehunes. They searched the whole day and decided to give up their search. The next day, they were on their way home and spotted a hole in a stonewall surrounding a fishpond. The water was leaking and Peter suggested to plug it up before all of the water leaks out. When they were done and back on the road again, they found little footprints in the dirt, leading to a big rock with a message to the boys. It was thanking them for doing a good deed for the ‘aina but as they were eager to tell someone about the incident, it started to rain, washing the message away. As it stopped raining, the boys decided to keep it their little secret.

AnalysisPeter Panini…• His cousin, Kalei, convinces him to fly

over to Kaua’i• “Flies” to Kaua’i to meet up with his

cousin to go on an adventure• Their uncle allows them to go into the

forest by themselves, with no adult supervision – possible reason of keeping the

whole ‘Peter Pan’ youth alive in the story, where the children are on their own

• There were Hawaiian words in the context such as kolohe (rascal), tutu (grandparents), kupuna (respected elder), and puka (hole), more of the Hawai’i culture

• The story reflected more on taking care of the ‘aina instead of one another

Peter Pan• Flies into Darling family’s nursing

window, where he first met Wendy• He convinces them to fly with him

to Neverland• They weren’t searching for

anything• The ‘Lost Boys’ decided to go

back to the real world• Upon going back, they were

captured by Captain Hook• Peter Pan and Hook fight and

Hook is vanquished• Everyone returns to the real world

but Peter Pan goes back to Neverland

Gillespie, J., & Aadema, J. (2009). There was an old auntie. Kaneohe, HI: BeachHouse Publication.

In this story, ‘Auntie’ decided to move from Hawai’i to a place that had shoes as homes. She walks around the new place she calls home and thought she had made a big mistake. Auntie was beginning to get homesick until she decided to renovate her shoe home. Instead of being in a stuffy, dark shoe for a home, Auntie decided to make her shoe into a slipper. Instead of going back to her Hawai’i, she brought her Hawai’i to the place.

AnalysisThere was an old auntie• Old auntie travelled alone, with no

children• She moved from Hawai’i to

another place and travelled via canoe

• Instead of wallowing in her sadness, she decided to fix her shoe and make it into a slipper

• She feeds the workers that were fixing her home plate lunch that had teri chicken, mac salad and rice, ordinary for Hawai’i lunch

• Old auntie also danced hula at night and made plenty of friends

The old woman who lived in a shoe• I couldn’t find the rest of the poem

but based off the first verse, it talks about an old woman who lived in a shoe

• She had a lot of children living with her in the shoe

• But she had so much children, she couldn’t seem to feed all of them enough food

• So instead, she sent all of them to bed

Takayama, S., & Szegedy, E. (1997), Sumorella: a Hawai’i Cinderella story. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bess Press.In this story, there was a famous family who was well known for their mango bread. Their youngest son, whom they nicknamed ‘Mango Boy’ always stayed home to pick mangoes, peel, slice and chop them up. He had two older brothers who teased him constantly and went to sumo practice everyday, leaving Mango Boy to do chores all by himself. One day, there was a sumo exhibition where a famous stablemaster from Japan was going to be there. Mango Boy wanted to go to the exhibition to challenge but he couldn’t because didn’t have the proper attire. However, the Manapua Man decided to give Mango Boy a chance to challenge the other sumo wrestlers. He was sort of a “godmother,” having Mango Boy change into a sumo wrestler and was renamed Sumorella. The Manapua man said he would change back by the time it was dinner, so he had to hurry back. At his last challenge, he won but he started to change back and left the competition, leaving his mawashi, the clothe wrapped around , behind. Soon, the stablemaster was looking for the person who owned the mawashi. He searched all of Hawai’i until they came across Mango Boy and asked him to try it on. He did and the stablemaster brought him back to Japan to train under him.

AnalysisSumorella• A whole family, with his original father, mother and

brothers• Although this story is about sumo, which is primarily

a Japanese sport, it is posted in Hawai’i• In the book, there were some Hawaiian and

Japanese words in there such as: gomen nasai (excuse me), okole (butt),kau-kau (meal)

• There were some portion of the story written in pidgin as well; this targets Hawai’ian and Japanese culture to Hawai’i children

• Instead of a Godmother, Mango Boy had the Manapua Man who helped him become a sumo wrestler

• At the last matchup, Sumorella changed back as he was challenging another sumo wrestler, leaving his mawashi.

• The stablemaster went all over Hawai’i looking for the great sumo wrestler at the exhibition, having everyone trying on the mawashi

• The stablemaster finds Mango Boy and asks him to go to Japan and train with him

• He had a good life, married a former Miss Hawai’i and lived happily ever after

Cinderella• A rich man marries another woman that had

two other children • Step mother and two older step sisters were

cruel to her• Nicknamed Cinderella because she would

rest on the hearth among the cinders and always looked dusty and dirty, hence Cinder-ella

• She would ask the birds and nature to help her in her time of need

• The ball / courting took 3 days• On the last day, she left her shoe and the

Prince was looking for the girl who fit the shoe

• Her two older step sisters tried it and cut parts of their foot to fit it to fool the prince

• Cinderella finally tries the shoe and it fits and marries the prince

• On Cinderella’s wedding day, the birds pecked out her stepsisters eyes, blinding them forever

Takayama, S., & Hall, P. (1996). The musubi man: Hawai’i’s gingerbread man. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bess Press.The story starts off with a couple who lived in Hawai’i and tended their taro patches. One day, the old lady decided to make a musubi man. As she completed her creation, he sprang alive and started to run away from her, taunting the old woman, then the old man who followed, asking the musubi to stop. After a series of animals the musubi man stopped, he came across a surfer who said he would help him get away from the people chasing him. The surfer paddled out into sea and asked the musubi man to come closer to him before he is wiped out by the water. The surfer tried eating the musubi man, but decided not to when he survived the barrel roll when he was surfing. After the incident, the surfer became a pro and won many meets with the musubi man on his shoulders. And the old woman never knew what happened of the musubi man she made.

AnalysisThe Musubi Man• Instead of gingerbread, this man was made

out of musubi; limu (seaweed) for hair, nori (dry seaweed) for jacket, daikon (turnip) for eyes, red ginger for mouth umeboshi (pickeled plum) for the heart– All the different types of food that are

available in Hawai’i, made of different parts of the world, but this is mostly Japanese

• The text was written in some pidgin, especially in terms of the taunting, “You no can catch me!”

• As he was being chased by the old woman and man, the animals that told him to stop were a dog, mynah bird, and mangoose– All apparent in Hawai’i’s natural habitat

• Lastly, he comes across a surfer but instead of getting eaten, he is befriended by the surfer and stays with him

The Gingerbread Man• Gingerbread man was made out of:

gingerbread, currants (eyes), cherries (buttons), and icing (clothes)

• When he was being chased by the old woman and man, the animals that told him to stop were a pig, cow, horse and fox

• He comes to a river, where the fox offered to swim across to help him

• He tricks the gingerbread man to go onto his nose and when he lands on the other side of land, he eats the gingerbread man

Takayama, S., & Szegedy, E. (1998), The prince and the li hing mui. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bess Press.This story is about a King and Queen looking for a prince for their daughter to marry. She was known as Princess Li Hing Mui. Her mother read in a book to catch a real prince, you have to put something under the bed, such as a li hing mui seed, so that he is able to feel it. Princes came all over to sleep at the castle and none of them felt the seed under the 20 beds. One day, a commoner forced to take refuge in the castle because of the storm. The commoner was intelligent, funny and very handsome and the Princess was falling for him. Princess Li Hing Mui asked her parents if he could stay as long as the storm passes. He stayed for 3 nights and each time he was asked how he slept, he said he was okay. On the third night, the princess snuck into his room to see him sleeping on the floor. The commoner said that he couldn’t sleep on the 20 beds because he felt a bump and didn’t want to bother her and her family. Princess Li Hing Mui screamed and her parents came over and heard what had happened. Soon, the commoner and the Princess were wed and lived happily ever after.

AnalysisThe Prince and the Li Hing Mui• Instead of a pea, a li hing mui is used, very

connected to the Hawai’i culture here (used mostly for candy but can be used on fruits)– Li hing mui is preserved plum, mostly

used as a powder• Instead of a natural born prince, it’s a

commoner, with the heart and poise of a prince

• Instead of complaining and telling everyone of his discomfort, he kept to himself– Very much in Hawai’i culture, it is rude

to complain to someone who gave you such hospitality

– It is very shameful or embarrassing, so you just be polite and courteous to your caregivers

• Instead of looking for a princess, they were looking for a prince

The Princess and the pea• The prince searched the land for a

well-mannered and beautiful princess but to no avail

• One night, a fierce storm came about and brought a woman to the door

• She says she is a princess and is looking for shelter

• The mother doubted she was a princess, so she put a pea under 20 mattresses

• The queen asked if she slept well and she said no, explaining she could feel something under all of that mattresses

Laird, D. M., & Jossem, C. (1983). Wili Wai Kula and the three mongooses. Honolulu, Hawaii: Barnaby Books.This story is about a curious girl name Wili Wai Kula who likes to do the opposite of what everyone tells her to do. One day, her mother told her not to go into the forest before she will get lost. However, she didn’t heed her mother and went deep into the forest. Just when she was about to turn back, she found a house in the middle of the forest. She looks inside to see if anyone was home. When she was looking, she saw food on the table and decided to eat the food. One was too hot, one was too cold and one was just right. As she ventures into the home, she comes across chairs and picks the smallest one to just right. Eventually she goes into the bedroom and falls asleep on the baby’s bed. The Mongoose came back and saw the mess she left behind. They looked throughout the house, seeing their food had been eaten, their chairs been sat and her being in the bed. She woke up to the mongoose staring at her and she ran out the house. After that, she never ventured out and be as mischievous as before.

AnalysisWili Wai Kula…• Instead of bears, they were replaced with

mongooses (which are native to Hawai’i natural environment)

• The food that was on the table was rice and Portuguese sausages instead

• They took a stroll around the forest, instead of visiting the neighbors

• Wili Wai Kula doesn’t know the baby mongoose

• She tries on all of the food, chairs and beds until she finds the smallest one fit

• Wili Wai Kula eventually falls asleep in baby mongoose’s bed and wakes up to the sound of their voices

• She runs away and never returns to the forest or becomes mischievous anymore

• Most of it is written in pidgin and had more Hawaiian words that I didn’t even know the definition

Goldilocks• They were bears in the forest• The food that was made was pudding

with blueberries• They visited neighbors in the forest • Goldilocks knows who Baby Bear is

and vice versa• Instead of trying all of the food, chairs

and beds, Goldilocks goes straight to Baby Bear’s things

• Goldilocks runs away as she heard the Bear’s voices

• Baby Bear calls out to hear to play with her

• After that experience, Goldilocks becomes a pleasant girl and became good friends with Baby Bear

Laird, D. M., & Jossem, C. (1995). Hau Kea and the seven menehune. Honolulu, Hawaii: Barnaby Books.This story is about Hau Kea, which literally means “Snow White,” and the evil queen, Wailuna, who wanted her dead. The queen was vain and asked her aumakua, which was a pueo, who was the fairest in the land. One day, he says it was Snow White, so the queen devised a plan to kill her. The villages around caught wind of this and Snow White’s hanai mother sent Hau Kea out into the valley mountains so that she is safe from harm. Going into the mountains, Hau Kea found a home with 7 small beds along with a small table and bowls. She falls asleep in one of the beds, only to be awoken by voices of menehunes. She explained her situation and was allowed to stay if she cleaned their house and made them food. One day, the evil queen found out she was still alive and disguised herself as an old lady, giving away guava. Hau Kea took bite of the guava and fell asleep, leaving the menehune to be sad and make another home for her sleeping body to be in. One day, a prince from Kaua’i explored O’ahu and came across her stone home and thought how beautiful she was. He wanted to marry her and bring her back to Kaua;i. The dwarves agreed for it was for her safety and all 7 menehune kissed her goodbye, along with the prince’s last kiss. She wakes up and is greeted by the menehune and prince. The menehune were sad but the prince suggested to go with them to Kaua’i. They agreed and decided to leave O’ahu and they lived all happily together.

AnalysisHau Kea• Hau Kea didn’t have real parents, just a hanai (adoptive)

mother who took her in after her real parents passed away

• The evil queen, Wailuna, had an aumakua, guardian animal, as a pet, somewhat like her mirror; it was the pueo (owl)

• One day, a hunter was asked to kill her, so her mother decided to send her away to be out of Wailuna’s wrath

• She went deep into the valley of the islands to come across a little home with 7 beds and bowls

• She fell asleep and awoke when she heard the voices of the menehune

• Instead of dwarves, the menehune are being used• Hau Kea could stay under the condition she would clean

and cook for the menehune• Wailuna heard she was still alive, so she disguised

herself as a caring tutu, grandmother, and instead of an apple, gave a guava fruit instead

• She fell into a deep sleep and was awoken when all 7 dwarves kissed her, along with a prince from Kaua’i that saw her when he was exploring O’ahu

• They escaped, leaving O’ahu behind and lived happily forever after in Kaua’i

Snow White• Snow White had a stepmother who was jealous of

her beauty• The stepmother would ask the mirror who was the

loveliest in all the land• One day, the mirror said it was Snow White• A servant was bribed to kill Snow White but he left

her out in the forest• In the forest, she wandered into the dwarves home

and decided to clean their beds and make their food

• She fell asleep in one of their beds and she awoke, telling their story, with the dwarves offering her to stay

• Thinking Snow White is dead, the stepmother asks again who’s the fairest, still receiving the same answer that it is Snow White

• She finds where Snow White is and disguises herself as an old woman selling apples filled with poison

• Snow White was put into a crystal coffin where a prince was caught admiring her one day.

• He kissed her and broke the spell and Snow White came back to life and lived with the prince happily.

Laird, D. M., & Jossem, C. (1982). Keaka and the liliko’i vine. Honolulu, Hawaii: Barnaby Books.This story is about a boy named Keaka and his widowed mother. He and his mother were so poor, in order to survive, Keaka had to pick for opihi, his mother tended to the garden or sometimes the other men in the village gave them food. One day, there was no fish to be caught or shared, Keaka’s mother said to sell his goat in town. While walking to town, he came across a stranger with magical liliko’i seeds. He came home with the seeds and his mother was upset that she threw the seeds out of the window. The next day, it grew into a giant vine that led straight up into the clouds. He climbed the vine and there was a big home. He knocked on the door and a giant tutu answered the door. She quickly tried to hide him from her husband, who was a cruel giant. The giant could smell the boy, but the tutu tried to distract her husband as much as possible. Soon, both of the giants fell asleep. Keaka saw what the giant had in his possession; a nene goose that laid gold eggs and a self playing ukulele. He decided to grab these and bring it back home. As he went down the vines, the nene goose squawked and the giant heard it and ran after Keaka. Keaka got down in time to cut the vines, to have the giant fall into the big lava pit and lived happily ever after.

AnalysisKeaka and the Liliko’i vine• Keaka gave away his goat for liliko’i seeds• The vine grows overnight and it goes

straight into the clouds the next day• In the clouds, there was a home, with an old

tutu inside• She tries to hide Keaka away from her

husband who eats children• Her husband says he smells a child, and the

old tutu tries to do things to distract him• After the giant husband falls asleep after

eating, Keaka sees that he has a nene goose that laid golden eggs and an ukulele that played itself

• Keaka only went up the vine once and as soon as he got the items, the nene goose made noise and woke up the giant

• He heard the nene goose and chased Keaka down

• He chopped down the vine and the giant fell into the lava pit

• Keaka lived happily ever after with his mother

Jack and the beanstalk• Instead of a goat, they had a cow to sell• The beanstalk grows and he climbs the

vines and saw a home• In the home, there was a giant woman who

answered the door and fed him• The giant woman makes her husband, an

ogre, dinner, as he says he smells a child• Jack sees the ogre and he has gold pieces;

he takes it and descends down the vine• He goes back up the vine to get a hen that

laid golden eggs, then back down• Jack’s mother got sick and ill, so Jack

decided to go back up the vine one last time and stole a golden harp that played itself

• The ogre climbed down the vine and Jack chopped it down and the ogre fell down a cliff

• Jack and his mother lived happily ever after

Laird, D. M., & Jossem, C. (1985). ‘Ula Li’i and the magic shark. Honolulu, Hawaii: Barnaby Books.In this story, it talks about a magical shark who tries to get ‘Ula Li’i (Little Red) food on her way to her grandmother’s house. He overhears ‘Ula Li’i mother telling her all the food she packed for her kupuna; kalua pig, kulolo and poke, all of the shark’s favorite. As she walks to her kupuna’s house, the magic shark dresses up in disguises to get ‘Ula Li’i to stop and give her the food that’s in the basket. She denies him each time and the shark pulls one last trick. He goes to her grandmother’s house, telling her there’s a sale on fish and she leaves to buy. He disguises himself as ‘Ula Li’i’s grandmother and waits for her. She comes by and starts noticing how much different her grandmother looks. By the time she was done observing, the shark got impatient and started to go for the basket. Just then, ‘Ula Li’i screamed and a cane field worker heard and ran to the house. He grabbed the shark and bent it like he would the cane sugar and tied him up. Just then ‘Ula Li’i’s grandmother came back home and thanked him for saving her granddaughter. ‘Ula Li’i goes back home and everyone is living happily ever after.

Analysis‘Ula Li’i & the magic shark• ‘Ula Li’I is going to her grandmother’s house,

carrying local food favorites such as Kalua pig, kulolo (taro and coconut milk together) and poke (raw fish dish)

• The author used a shark, and it disguised as something along the way to distract ‘Ula Li’i from the path of her grandmother’s house

• The magic shark is trying to eat the food for the grandmother, instead of ‘Ula Li’i

• He goes ahead of ‘Ula Li’i and arrives at the grandmother’s house, telling her there’s a sale on her favorite fish; he doesn’t eat her

• He dresses up at ‘Ula Li’i’s grandmother and tries to get the basket from her

• A cane field worker came to ‘Ula Li’I’s rescue and folded the magic shark like a sugar cane

• The grandmother came back and thanked the cane worker

• ‘Ula Li’i returned home safe and sound

Little Red Riding Hood• Little Red Riding hood was going to her

grandmother’s house in the woods carrying a piece of cake and a bottle of wine, instead of local food

• Little Red came across a wolf who asked where she was going, and she was swayed to pick flowers off the path

• Instead of going for the food in the basket, the wolf saw Little Red as food

• The wolf was already at Little Red’s grandmother’s house, and have presumably ate her and disguised himself as her grandmother

• The wolf decides to eat Little Red• A huntsman comes to the rescue of Little Red

and her grandmother• He cuts open the wolf and out comes Little

Red and her grandmother• They fill the wolf’s body with rocks and he died

Laird, D. M., & Jossem, C. (1981). The three little Hawaiian pigs and the magic shark. Honolulu, Hawaii: Barnaby Books.Lastly, this story is about the three Hawaiian pigs and the magic shark, instead of a wolf. There were three pigs that were brothers and their parents had given them money to set off into the real world. The first brother made his house out of pili grass, the second made his house out of driftwood and the last brother made his house out of lava rocks. When the third brother was done, he joined his brothers in surfing, fishing and picking ‘opihi. The magic shark saw the pigs surfing and thought how delicious they would be. The magic shark disguises himself first as the shave ice man, and the first brother wasn’t convinced. The shark blew his house down and the pig went to his second brother’s house. Then the shark dressed up as a surfer but they saw the fin sticking out of his back and the same thing happened; the shark blew the second brother pigs house down. Both brothers went to their youngest brother’s house and the magic shark was dressed as a lei maker. They weren’t convinced and the magic shark blew air but nothing happened. He tried again but nothing could bring down the youngest pig’s house. The magic shark blew so much that he blew himself flat. The pigs flatten him and threw him out and decided to all build lava rock homes and lived close by the sea as a family together.

AnalysisThe three little Hawaiian pigs• Three brother pigs, the oldest built his

house out of pili grass, the second built it out of driftwood and the third, out of lava rocks– These are all present in Hawaii homes,

that sometimes people use all three• The brothers activities seem to show the

local activities such as pulling reef creatures with the nets such as octopus, eel, or scraping opilhi off the rocks or even fish in the ocean

• It also shows them surfing together, a great past time with family and friends

• With the shark’s disguises, it shows a shave ice man, a local surfer, and a lei maker

• The shark huffed and puffed but instead of giving up, he flattened instead

• The two brother pigs then built their homes with lava rocks as well and lived with their youngest brother by the sea happily

The three little pigs• Three brother pigs, the oldest built his

house out of straw, the second built his out of wood, and the third built his out of bricks

• The brothers activities were just to come out and play

• The youngest brother pig found wolf tracks leading up to their neighborhood and all of the pigs rushed home

• The wolf huffed and puffed and blew the first and second brother’s house down

• The wolf reached the last brother’s house, trying to blow it down but to no avail; the last brother had a fireplace and decided to light it up so that the wolf won’t get in

• The wolf tries to get down the chimney but his tail catches on fire and never returned to the neighboorhood

• The two brother pigs then built their homes of bricks like their youngest brother

Final Thoughts• I thought this assignment was fun and insightful to the kind of atmosphere

that children were learning in through these books• It was very multicultural and Hawai’i oriented to all of the different ethnic

cultures we have here• There were different languages, mostly Hawaiian, that made the learning

experience entertaining• It made me think of my own childhood and how lucky we are to be

surrounded by many ethnic backgrounds and that we are able to share and experience it together as a community