A comet blazes across the night sky, heralding the birth of a powerful king who will rule the Islands. Then a baby is spirited away to the mountains to escape a jealous chief wary of the prophecy. As dramatic as a Greek myth, the story of Kamehameha the Great, Hawaii's warrior king, is retold here for readers of all ages. From his childhood in exile to his return to court and the lifting of the great Naha Stone, we follow this brave and ambitious youth as he paves his way to becoming first conqueror and then monarch of a unified Hawaiian kingdom. Recommended for ages 9 and up
Chronicles the life of King Kamehameha I from childhood to his ascension to becoming one of Hawaii's greatest leaders, capturing the danger of a child who was forced to hide from jealous chiefs who marked him for death.
Highlights commonly accepted accounts of events and personal characteristics of the leader who united separate island chiefdoms into one Hawaiian nation.
Through rigorous scholarship and research, the authors have compiled a book that explores the decedents and wives of King Kamehameha I . This is the revised edition of the original book that came out in 2000.
A comet blazes across the night sky, heralding the birth of a powerful king who will rule the Islands. Then a baby is spirited away to the mountains to escape a jealous chief wary of the prophecy. As dramatic as a Greek myth, the story of Kamehameha the Great, Hawaii's warrior king, is retold here for readers of all ages. From his childhood in exile to his return to court and the lifting of the great Naha Stone, we follow this brave and ambitious youth as he paves his way to becoming first conqueror and then monarch of a unified Hawaiian kingdom. Recommended for ages 9 and up
The famous statue of Kamehameha I in downtown Honolulu is one of the state’s most popular landmarks. Many tourists—and residents—however, are unaware that the statue is a replica; the original, cast in Paris in the 1880s and the first statue in the Islands, stands before the old courthouse in rural Kapa‘au, North Kohala, the legendary birthplace of Kamehameha I. In 1996 conservator Glenn Wharton was sent by public arts administrators to assess the statue’s condition, and what he found startled him: A larger-than-life brass figure painted over in brown, black, and yellow with “white toenails and fingernails and penetrating black eyes with small white brush strokes for highlights. . . . It looked more like a piece of folk art than a nineteenth-century heroic monument.” The Painted King is Wharton’s account of his efforts to conserve the Kohala Kamehameha statue, but it is also the story of his journey to understand the statue’s meaning for the residents of Kapa‘au. He learns that the townspeople prefer the “more human” (painted) Kamehameha, regaling him with a parade, chants, and leis every Kamehameha Day (June 11). He meets a North Kohala volunteer who decides to paint the statue’s sash after respectfully consulting with kahuna (Hawaiian spiritual leaders) and the statue itself. A veteran of public art conservation, Wharton had never before encountered a community that had developed such a lengthy, personal relationship with a civic monument. Going against the advice of some of his peers and ignoring warnings about “going native,” Wharton decides to involve the people of Kapa‘au in the conservation of their statue and soon finds himself immersed in complex political, social, and cultural considerations, including questions about representations of the Native Hawaiian past: Who should decide what is represented and how? And once a painting or sculpture exists, how should it be conserved? The Painted King examines professional authority and community involvement while providing a highly engaging and accessible look at “activist conservation” at work, wherever it may be found.
Depicts the first experiences of Hawaiian leader Kamehameha in battle, covering his overturning of the Naha Stone and other feats performed during his lifelong quest to unify the islands.
