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ISLE PAGES
Not enough
how-to woven inCynthia Oi
Star-BulletinPEOPLE who make cracks about basket-weaving classes obviously haven't taken one.The Guide to Basket Weaving:
By Bob Morrison and Auntie Healani (Island Heritage), 66 pages, wire bound, $7.95Basket weaving is a difficult skill to master even with a real live teacher telling you what to do. Learning by book can be very confusing and frustrating.
So it is with Bob Morrison and Auntie Healani Ringler's attempt to pass on their knowledge about weaving coconut leaves. Instructions in their guide are vague and assume that the reader knows something about weaving even though the book appears to be aimed at novices.
For the first and supposedly easiest project -- making a heart basket -- the reader is told to "start plaiting" without explaining the technique. The glossary does provides a definition of "plait/plaiting," but says only that it is a "weaving process of over and under, interlocking the leaves."
Photographs, taken by Morrison's brother, accompany the instructions but do little to help in understanding the weaving process. Drawings and other detailed graphics would have been better tools.
The problem with this guide is that it tries to be pretty -- marketable to tourists -- and instructional at the same time and thus fails at both.
January Best Sellers
CHILDREN'S
1. "Hide and Seek in Hawaii 2," Jane Hopkis & Ian Gillespie, Mutual Publishing (MP) (1)
2. "Hide and Seek in Hawaii," Jane Hopkis & Ian Gillespie, MP (4)
3. "Hawaiian Flowers Cut-out Paper Dolls," Yuko Green, Island Heritage (3)
4. "Hawaiian Marine Life Color & Activity Book," Yuko Green, Island Heritage (5)
5. "Limu -- The Blue Turtle," Kimo Armitage, Island Heritage (7)
6. "A Beautiful Hawaiian Day," Henry Kapono, MP (2)
7. "Golden Children of Hawaii Cut-Out Dolls," Yuko Green, Island Heritage (6)
8. "Humu, The Little Fish Who Wished Away His Colors," Kimberly Jackson, Island Heritage (9)
9. "Baby Honu's Incredible Journey," Tammy Yee, Island Heritage (8)
10. "Baby Honu Saves The Day," Tammy Yee, Island Heritage
GIFT AND TRAVEL
1. "Unbearably Good! Mochi Lovers Cookbook," Teresa Devirglio-Lam (10)
2. "Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes,"Jean Watanabe Hee, MP
3. "Sam Choy Sampler," Sam Choy, MP (1)
4. "Maui," Douglas Peebles and Jan TenBruggencate, MP
5. "Discover Kauai," Stu Dawrs, Island Heritage
6. "Ohana Style Cookbook," St. Francis Medical Center, Island Heritage (7)
7. "Pidgin To Da Max Hana Hou!," Douglas Simonson, Bess Press
8. "Travelogue Maui," Steven Goldsberry, MP
9. "Maui's Hana Highway," Angela Kay Kepler, MP (3)
10. "Pidgin To Da Max," Douglas Simonson, Bess Press (5)
HAWAIIANA
1. "Hawaii Looking Back," Glen Grant and Bennett Hymar, MP (1)
2. "New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary," Mary Kawena Pukui et al., University of Hawai'i Press
3. "Hawaiian Journey," Joseph Mullins, MP (2)
4. "Hawaii Land of Volcanoes," Jan TenBruggencate, MP
5. "Glen Grant's Chicken Skin Tales," Glen Grant, MP
6. "Hawaii's Best Spooky Tales: The Original," Rick Carroll, Bess Press (9)
7. "Waikiki Yesteryear," Glen Grant, MP
8. "Hoopilipili Olelo," Georgiana Frayer-Luna, University of Hawai'i Press
9. "Hawaii's Best Spooky Tales 4," Rick Carroll, Bess Press (4)
10. "Oahu's Hidden History," William Dorrance, MP
LITERATURE
1. "Hawaii's Story," Lydia Liliuokalani, MP (2)
2. "Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands," Gavan Daws, University of Hawai'i Press
3. "The Tattoo," Chris McKinney, MP (3)
4. "Legends & Myths Of Hawaii," David Kalakaua, MP
5. "Pearl Harbor: The Way It Was," Scott Stone, Island Heritage (5)
6. "Mark Twain In Hawaii," Mark Twain, MP
7. "Stories of Hawaii," Jack London, MP (7)
8. "Ancient Hawaiian Civilization," Glen Grant (introduction), MP
9. "Potiki," Patricia Grace, University of Hawai'i Press
10. "All I Asking for Is My Body," Milton Murayama, University of Hawai'i Press
REFERENCE
1. "How to Play the Hawaiian Ukulele," University of Hawai'i Lab School, MP
2. "Pocket Guide To Hawaii's Flowers," Leland Miyano, MP
3. "Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds," H. Douglas Pratt, MP (4)
4. "Hawaii's Seed and Seed Lei: An Identification Guide," Laurie Shimizu Ide, MP (2)
5. "Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Trees and Shrubs," H. Douglas Pratt, MP
6. "Poakalani Hawaiian Quilt Cushion Patterns Vol. I," Poakalani and John Serrao, MP (9)
7. "Exalted Sits the Chef," Ross Cordy, MP
8. "Handy Hawaiian Dictionary," John F. G. Stokes, Mary Kawena Pukui, Henry P. Judd, MP
9. "Pocket Guide to Maui," Curt Sanburn and Jan TenBruggencate, MP
10. "Things Hawaiian -- A Pocket Guide To Language," Albert Schutz, Island Heritage (10)
These are best-selling books in Hawaii during last month. Figures are courtesy of the Hawaii Book Publishers Association and Bookline distributors, and reflect sales by Hawaii-based publishers. Numbers in parentheses indicate a title's previous ranking.
Read All About It presents news and notices about Hawaii's literary scene. Send items -- at least two weeks in advance of publication date -- to Read All About It, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Read All About It
SPECIAL
BOOK SALE
Liliha Public Library, 587-7577
10 a.m.-4 p.m. tomorrow.
AUTHOR SIGNINGS
"FAMILY TRADITIONS IN HAWAII"
By Joan Clarke, tomorrow:
"THE GUIDE TO BASKET WEAVING"
Native Books & Beautiful Things, Ward Warehouse, 596-8885
By Bob Morrison and Auntie Healani, 1 p.m. Sunday.
CONTINUING
CRAFTS AND STORIES
Barnes and Noble, 737-3323
10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.OTHER READING GROUP
Borders Waikele, 676-7820
7 p.m. Tuesday.ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA, ALOHA CHAPTER
Aina Haina Library, 783-8682
10 a.m. Feb. 3. Call Sally Sorenson for more information.SCIENCE AND FANTASY FICTION READING GROUP
Borders Ward Centre, 591-8995
Meets 7 p.m. last Thursday of month.
Click for online
calendars and events.
