ʻIolani teachers Greg Bowman and Alan Suemori count their blessings daily.
Their positivity is captured in their keiki book, “Leilani: Blessed and Grateful.” The title character is a fourth grader who meets Queen Kapiʻolani and is given a tour of Hawaiʻi in the 1880s.
The storybook is illustrated by Jamie Tablason and it represented the islands at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. in 2022. It also includes an embedded gratitude journal and a detailed historical page.
Children and families in Japan can read the book, too, as it was one of two books presented by former first lady Dawn Ige to the Hiroshima Prefectural Library, marking the state’s first-ever sister library agreement.
HPR talked to the coauthors during this Thanksgiving season to share Leilani’s timeless message.
For more information about the book, click here.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Nov. 20, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
