“Absolutely Awesome Island Animals”

“Absolutely Awesome Island Animals in Hawaiian & English”
by Cooper Riley
The very first book in the Cheeky Tales series, this sturdy quality board book introduces babies and toddlers to Hawaii's rare and unusual animals (most of which are found nowhere else on the planet).

Keiki (kay-key, kids) can build vocabulary and connect with their environment through colorful photos and simple words -- both in Hawaiian and English.

Adults will appreciate the glossary with entertaining animal facts, plus a phonetic Hawaiian pronunciation guide on every page.

Learning about Hawaiian Island Animals doesn't get any easier than this!

The Story Behind the Story:

Before Cooper was diagnosed as developmentally delayed, his author/teacher mother (Judi Riley) thought he would just pick up speaking like most kids do. They were eventually referred to IMUA family services, Maui's organization that helps keiki with special needs. Judi learned that there was a lot of work to do. Cooper & Judi picked up word building strategies from a team of dedicated IMUA speech therapists. It took months of working with the team to help Cooper form his first words. It wasn’t just a matter of learning one word and the rest will tumble out. It was a very long journey.

"Absolutely Awesome Island Animals in Hawaiian & English" was born from these IMUA strategies combined with Cooper's excitement over the animals, colors and Hawaiian words in his mom's books.

Specifically, the idea for Cooper's book came from the O'o bird (say oh-oh) in his mom's "When I am Quiet on O'ahu" book. Cooper could say "O'o book! O'o book!" before "mama" or "dada." This inspired mother and son to build a scrapbook of island animals, so they could practice Hawaiian sounds and words, which came more easily than English words. Judi suspects Cooper could pick up the Hawaiian language easier than English because there are more vowel sounds, like mo'o (moe-oh) is easier to say than gecko. Mastering these sounds, gradually helped Cooper use more words in both languages.

Right now, Judi and Cooper are working on the next Cheeky Tales board books in the series: “Positively Phat Island Plants” and a Hawaiian alphabet book.

Front Cover

Back Cover

ISBN # 0974058246

* Reading level:

Ages 0 to 4 yrs

* Board book: 24 pages

* Language:

English & Hawaiian

* Suggested Retail Price: $9.95

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O'o bird

from “When I am Quiet on O’ahu”

a peek inside

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