This book tells the Hawaiian legend of a woman named Hina who lives in the moon. The legend tells of a women who felt sad and trapped in her life with an angry, un-happy husband and an ungrateful village. She constantly hopes and prays to Lanhuki for a new home. She then travels to the mountains where it was to cold and then to the sun where it was to hot. She then stands up to her husband and travels to the moon where she is able to finally be happy. This book’s style is much more along the lines of a myth or legend told by word of mouth. The setting is in Hawaii and is explained to be a story typically told to young children at bed time. Overall I found this to be a fun and interesting story that would spark any students imagination. ( )

This is a Hawaiian creation story about how the woman in the moon got to be there. Hira was a hard working who made tapa clothing. She was good at it, that all the towns people wanted her to do creations for them. But she because overworked and stressed by the work demands, a lazy husband, and the fact that she lived in a society where woman were not allowed many freedoms.She decided to find a place where she could enjoy life and do her tapas without the pressure from her village. She found the moon to be the perfect place to live and it is said that when it rains, it is her pouring joy in to her tapas and when the clouds come out it is because she is putting out her tapas to dry.

Before the story starts there is a glossary of all of the Polynesian words that will be used. I thought this was a really good thing to include, so that readers can use translations to actively engage in the text and understand the different languages presented. I really liked this aspect of the book, which is one of the reasons why I gave it a good rating.
The story comes from an old Polynesian story, about a woman (Hina which translates to Goddess) who often chanted while she made handmade cloth, and the sound of her pounding and chanting could be hears echoing throughout the valley. In the story, Hina sings, (translated to English) “Above, above, below, below, behold this lovely world.” Because Hina made the best Tapa (handmade cloth) on the island, the people in the village say, “this is tapa for kings and chiefs.” The author describes the village people’s faces to have “laughing eyes.” I liked the language here, when the author describes the people’s feelings and how excited they looked.
I also like how this book was focuses on ideas of feminism, oppression, and bravery. The author writes, “Hina did not like living in a place where so many things were forbidden for women.” She is married to “Aikanaka-the Wanderer” who seems very demanding and does not help her cook and prepare bark for tapa making. In the middle of the book, Hina says, “Perhaps this is where I am meant to live. Talking about the top of a mountain. Then she says, “I could look down and watch everything I love: deep, dark forests, the thundering waterfalls, the fishponds and taro fields. Hina ended up climbing a rainbow that she found into the sky but the sun was too strong and scorched her so she climbed back down. It was then that she decided to wait until dark and climb towards the moon.
The author writes, “when she stepped into the mood, her spirit was finally free, She had found her home at last,” I loved how the book ended with Hina going off on her own, which strengthens the main ideas of strength, bravery, courage, and that women should not be afraid to break the mold that may be previously instilled for them in their culture. ( )

An interesting Hawaiian tale about how the woman came to be in the moon. The woman left to the moon in order to inspire people to make their own cloth as pretty as hers. It is an nspiring tale of Hawaiian culture ( )