White Rainbow, Black Curse is the first in a 12-book series for young readers about the life of Kamehameha. Eyre's series is entitled Kana'iaupuni (the Conqueror of the Islands). The series is illustrated by Native Hawaiian artist Imaikalani Kalahele.

White Rainbow, Black Curse begins the story of Kamehameha's life. Even before Kamehameha is born, omens foretell his greatness. His pregnant mother cravesthe eye of the fierce niuhi shark. At his birth the land shakes with thunder and a "white rainbow" arches across the skies.

The ruling chief fears the coming of this child and plots to have him killed. But the baby is smuggled away to the safety of a remote area in Kohala where he spends his first years.

The Kana'iaupuni series is a work of historic fiction about Kamehameha, the great hero of Hawai'i. The series highlights the people, places, and events that shaped Kamehameha's life and led him to become Kana'iaupuni (the Conqueror of the Islands). The 12 stories in this series are based on Hawaiian sources and are intended for young readers, families, and educators.

David Kāwika Eyre was raised on the islands of O'ahu and Hawai'i. He taught at elementary schools for 10 years and prior to that, classes in English, history, and French at the college level. For the past 17 years he has taught Hawaiian language at Kamehameha's Kapālama High School. His most recent work, By Wind and Wave: An Introduction to Hawaiiís Natural History, won the Ka Palapala Po'okela Award for best natural science book of the year in 2000.

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See also:

Lumpy Poi and Twisting Eels