Maui Slows the Sun

The fifth title in the Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones series, Māui Slows the Sun introduces kids ages 0-4 to one of Hawai'i's best-known legends about Māui the demigod. The sun has been racing across the sky, preventing people from finishing their daily chores. Māui decides to confront the sun and races up Haleakalā to greet him as he rises. Using his olonā rope, Māui lassoes one of the sun's rays, holds him tight, and convinces him to slow his travels across the sky so Maui's mother may have time to dry her kapa and people can enjoy the daylight longer. The sun compromises and says he will slow his pace for half the year (summer) yet speed up the other half (winter). In simple, poetic language, this origin story about day time, night time, and the seasons, gives small kids a taste of Hawai'i's rich history of storytelling. The five other titles in the series are: Hina, Pele Finds a Home, Naupaka, and Hi'iaka Battles the Wind--all legends that will give kids a wider view of Hawaiian culture, history, and its natural world.