Customer Reviews

Lydia and the Island Kingdom: A Story Based on the Real Life of Princess Liliuokalani of Hawaii (Ready-To-Read - Level 3 (Hardback))

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I found this chapter book easy to read and a good start to learning about Hawaii's most famous queen. Author Joan Holub carefully researched the story of Queen Lydia Liliuokalani in order to create this work of historical fiction about Lydia when she was only seven years old. It helps that the book includes Hawaiian pronunciations and definitions. The timeline of important events at the end of the book provides more details about her life.

It was the custom in Hawaii to use songs and oral storytelling to pass history from one generation to another. Nothing had ever been written down - until now. On July 31, 1845, Restoration Day (a celebration of Hawaii's independence from England) Princess Lydia presented a gift to the king that was perhaps the most important to the history of Hawaii. Lydia had used her gift of music to record as many songs as she could on paper so that they would never be lost. She continued to write them down all her life. Eventually Queen Lydia Liliuokalani (say "lih-lee-uh-wah-kuh-LAH-nee") wrote new songs for Hawaii. Her most famous song is Aloha Oe.

This is a nice introduction to the rich history of Hawaii that tells kids that there is more to the islands than tourist brochures.