Cover of the book 'Ohana Means Family. There are eight people preparing for a luau, gathering food and working together. This is set in front of a green hill with a setting sun. The title is written in pink and orange lettering at the top.

‘Ohana Means Family

Posted on by Kate Shanks

Join the family, or ohana, as they farm taro for poi to prepare for a traditional luau celebration with a poetic text in the style of The House That Jack Built. The light-filled, dramatic illustrations of this book pair exquisitely with the text to celebrate Hawai’ian land and culture.

Author: Ilima Loomis

Illustrator: Kenard Pak

Author Ilima Loomis is an award-winning writer and author who has written about everything from outer space to the bottom of the sea, and everything in between. She was born in Hawai’i and lives on the beautiful island of Maui.

Illustrator Kenard Pak is an author and illustrator originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Much of his work is about memory, nature, and solitude. Kenard has worked as an artist on many animated films with Dreamworks, Walt Disney Feature, PDI, and Laika. He lives in San Francisco with his lovely wife, amazing daughter, and two blood orange trees.

Excerpt from the book. Features a group of people working to gather kalo, a vegetable used to make the Hawai'ian dish poi. The text reads: "This is 'ohana, the loved ones we hold, who give thanks for the sun, all bright and bold, that warms the wind on which stories are told, that lifts the rain to the valley fold, that feeds the stream of sunlit gold, flooding the land that's never been sold, where work the hands, so wise and old, that read through the water, clear and cold,".
Excerpt from the book (Source)
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