Benton have stressed the importance of Hawaiian literature for children, arguing that, "if public schools in the United States are composed of a variety of cultural perspectives, then classroom literature selections should reflect that richness of diversity." However, unlike other minority cultures in the United States, Hawaii lacks a primary figurehead author to spear a movement towards greater accessibility of Hawaiian culture within the framework of American children's literature. Many scholars have described Hawaii's history as turbulent, particularly since it has been regularly retold from two divergent standpoints, that of native Hawaiians versus those ingrained with colonialist understandings. In some ways, this cultural confusion is arguably reflective of the history of Hawaii itself, in which the network of islands has been variously ruled as a native monarchy, a European colony, and, most recently, as a territory and fiftieth state of the United States of America. Underrepresented and often relying on stereotypes and cultural myths, Hawaiian children's literature suffers from a shallow pool of native-born authors, thus often leaving the depiction of the archipelagic state's history and mythology to authors with a lack of proper understanding of Hawaiian culture. The contributions of Hawaiian authors to and the depiction of Hawaiian history, culture, and mythology in the children's literature genre. Hawaiian Children's Literature INTRODUCTIONĭEPICTIONS OF HAWAIIANS IN CHILDREN'S LITERATUREįANTASY AND MYTH IN HAWAIIAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
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