Kid Review

Kid Review – The Last Hawaiian Princess – chapter book

Posted on by mouttet.menagerie

Costagliola, Brunella. The Last Hawaiian Princess. Illustrated by Valerio Mazzoli. Nashville, TN: Wee B. Books, 2023.

A Stroke of Magic book 2

Summary

Spending time at Discovery Casa is always an adventure! Just ask Italian American twins Alex and Ella, and their Afro Panamanian friend Layla. The three friends are happy to be together again and even happier when they discover that the retirement home’s most talented artist, Art, has a new painting to show them.

Beautiful and enigmatic, the painting shows a woman on a beach with a peacock by her side. With the help of Emet, the magical paintbrush, the three friends jump into the painting and travel back in time to the Kingdom of Hawai’i, where they meet Princess Ka’iulani. She teaches them how to make a lei, dance the hula, and the importance of preserving one’s culture and language.

Preorder The Last Hawaiian Princess on Amazon – https://amzn.to/3Ucwnyg

My Kid Review

The Last Hawaiian Princess is a great story by Brunella Costagliola. It is a time travel fantasy novel that shares bits and pieces of Hawaiian history and culture. In this story, Art is the medium for jumping from one time period to the next – the kids are looking at a picture of a Hawaiian princess and the next thing they know they are visiting with her. The story is well-written and engaging. Young readers will be drawn into the story and may take to heart the message of keeping alive culture and language that is in danger of being forgotten.

Since this is a “book 2” and I haven’t read book 1, I felt like there was some missing information when it came to the magic and time travel aspect of the book. However, I was still able to enjoy the story and I think young readers will be able to as well.  

I appreciated that there was a glossary at the end of the book of Hawaiian terms. I do wish that Spanish terms had been included in the glossary as well. Many of the foreign terms were defined with context but I think that for the age of the target audience of glossary that included all foreign words would have been helpful.

Valerio Mazzoli used black-line drawings to illustrate the story. Some additional illustrations are included at the end of the book. Because these are black-line drawings, readers (who own a copy of the book) could color the pictures if they desired. 

The Last Hawaiian Princess would be a good addition to the early chapter book collection of a K-12 Christian school library. It is appropriate for mid- to upper-elementary students or as a read aloud for younger students.

I received a complimentary copy of The Last Hawaiian Princess. This is my honest review.

Read more Kid Review posts.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2024 (1/25/25)

MCBD is in its 11th year! Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen founded this non-profit children’s literacy initiative; they are two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural diverse books and authors on the market while also working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators.

Read Your World’s mission is to raise awareness of the need to include kids’ books celebrating diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about our Mission and history HERE.

Read Your World celebrates Multicultural Children’s Book Day and is honored to be Supported by these Medallion and Ruby Sponsors!

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Pragmaticmom) and Valarie Budayr (Audreypress.com)

🏅 Super Platinum Sponsor: Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

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🏅 Bronze Sponsors: CK Malone, Tonya Duncan Ellis, Anita Crawford Clark, Star Bright Books, Blue Dot Kids Press, Brunella Costagliola, Red Fin, Fabled Films 

Ruby Sponsor: Crayola 

Poster Artist:  Rebecca Burgess 

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MCBD 2024 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Authors: Gwen Jackson, Josh Funk, Eugenia Chu, Sivan Hong, Marta Magellan, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Angela H. Dale, Maritza M Mejia, Authors J.C. Kato and J.C.², Charnaie Gordon,  Alva Sachs, Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, Lisa Chong, Diana Huang, Martha Seif Simpson, DARIA (WORLD MUSIC WITH DARIA) Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, Gea Meijering, Stephanie M. Wildman, Tracey Kyle, Afsaneh Moradian, Kim C. Lee, Rochelle Melander, Beth Ruffin, Shifa Saltagi Safadi, Alina Chau, Michael Genhart, Sally J. Pla, Ajuan Mance, Kimberly Marcus, Lindsey Rowe Parker

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Join us on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at 9 pm EST celebrating more than 10 years of  Multicultural Children’s Book Day Read Your World Virtual Party! Register here. 

This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

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Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. We look forward to seeing you all on January 25, 2024, at our virtual party!

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