What's My Name in Hawaii?. Louise Bonner

      LOUISE BONNER

      What’s My Name in Hawaii?

      Illustrations by RAY LANTERMAN

      CHARLES E. TUTTLE COMPANY

      Rutland, Vermont Tokyo, Japan

      Representatives

      Continental Europe: BOXERBOOKS, INC., Zurich

      British Isles: PRENTICE-HALL INTERNATIONAL, INC., London

      Australasia: PAUL FLESCH & CO., PTY. LTD., Melbourne

      Canada: M.G. HURTIG, LTD., Edmonton

      Published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.

      of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan

      with editorial offices at

      Osaki Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032

      Copyright in Japan, 1967

      by Charles E. Tuttle Co.

      All rights reserved

      Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 67-17129

      ISBN: 978-1-4629-1288-9 (ebook)

      First printing, 1967

      Book design and typography by F. Sakade

      PRINTED IN JAPAN

      To all the women, past and present, who have given their time,, their energy, and their vision to found and maintain the non-profit Kindergarten and Children’s Aid Association of the Hawaiian Islands;

      And especially to the teachers of NA LEI, one of the six schools in Honolulu run by this association,

      This story is respectfully dedicated.

      Preface for Parents and Teachers

      IN THE older part of Honolulu there is a street only two blocks long called Banyan Street. A huge banyan tree with many long, tough roots hanging from its branches grows right in the middle of the street, and cars entering the street must drive on either side of it. Long ago the city fathers, it is said, would hold meetings in the cool shade under this tree. Today it is used by small boys and some not so small, who hold on to its roots and swing from the roofs of sheds close by. It is best to drive slowly here, for the driver may be surprised to see a boy swinging out in front of his car and back to a roof again!

      At the end of Banyan Street is a big, old green building that is called Na Lei Kindergarten and Preschool. It is light and pleasant inside, and has a wonderful playground shaded almost entirely by a huge monkeypod tree. The people who named the school long ago called it Na Lei o Ka Keiki, which means a “lei of children.” A lei is a garland of colorful flowers sewn together.

      In Hawaii people put leis around your neck, with a kiss, whenever you are going somewhere, coming from somewhere, or celebrating a birthday or any other happy occasion. The most beautiful leis are made of many different kinds of flowers. Perhaps that is why the school is called a lei of children, because they come from many different racial backgrounds: Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, Negro, and Haole (Caucasian) . . But they are all Americans and very proud to be citizens of the 50th State. This story is about one of these children who came from far across the ocean, but now is just another beautiful flower in Na Lei o Ka Keiki.

      LOUISE BONNER