July 23, 2026

The newest Pāhana ʻĀina Lupalupa books are headed to classrooms across Hawaiʻi, marking years of collaboration among educators, scientists, cultural practitioners and community partners to create learning materials that begin with Hawaiʻi.

The set of science readers is the latest release from a partnership between Ke Kula ‘o Kamehameha, Hale Kuamoʻo Hawaiian Language Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Hawaiian immersion educators. Following the first collection that explored places such as Nā Wai ʻEhā and the dry forests of Kahoʻolawe, the latest continues to introduce keiki to the natural world through ʻike Hawaiʻi and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

Created by and for kumu, the books address a longstanding need for high-quality nonfiction literacy resources grounded in aloha ʻāina. Each puke is available in both Hawaiian and English, expanding accessibility while intentionally preserving ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi throughout the text.

“We wanted the books to draw keiki in, to say, ‘Oh, what is this? Wow, that’s cool,’ and to understand the place that they’re from,” said Miki Maeshiro, editorial acquisition and development lead for Kamehameha Publishing.

As a former kaiapuni teacher, Kekaianiani Irwin remembers teaching from science texts where food webs connected acorns to squirrels to horned owls — one example of how translated Western materials could feel far removed from the experiences of his haumāna.

“This is where we live, so our books should reflect many things about our places — culture, history, ʻōlelo, and the physical ʻāina,” Irwin said.

New and veteran kumu, literacy specialists, Hawaiian language and culture experts, scientists and editors wrote and refined each book together, from selecting topics to reviewing content and testing drafts in actual classrooms.

“It was important to watch the keiki read the books and have conversations with them to understand what was making sense and what wasn’t,” Maeshiro said. “Because these aren’t just things learned in the classroom. It’s something we hope they experience in their own lives.”

Their collaboration shaped every stage of the project, bringing together expertise from education, science, language and culture.

“It’s the community that made Pāhana ʻĀina Lupalupa what it is,” Irwin said. “Nobody can claim sole credit for the project because everyone contributed their ʻike, skills and talents. So many people contributed to each book.”

As haumāna head back to school, the newest Pāhana ʻĀina Lupalupa books will give kumu another set of tools rooted in Hawaiʻi, helping the next generation strengthen literacy while seeing their language, culture and themselves reflected in the pages they read.

To purchase your own set: https://kamehamehapublishing.org/pal-eng