Hawaii

This is a famous historical work documenting Hawaiian oral traditions, originally written by Davida Malo in the 19th century. Malo's “Hawaiian catechism” not only documents indigenous Hawaiian myths and genealogy, but also describes cultural norms and taboos, rituals considered essential to well-being, and native Hawaiians' deep connections with their islands through names. While Ka mo'olelo Hawaii has been in print on-and-off for more than 150 years, this edition benefits significantly from the efforts of translator and editor Malcolm Nāea Chun.

This slim volume of Hawaii’s natural history was compiled when Hawaii was still a territory of the United States (Hawaii became a state in 1961.).  Written in an accessible style, it positively brims with information about Hawaii from the formation of its volcanos and history of its indigenous people to the cellular make-up of the Portuguese Man-of-War and the destructive quality of Hawaiian rats.