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It’s time…it’s time…it’s Book End Time! Welcome to this week’s Book End, highlighting the week’s literary and library events here in Hawaiʻi.

Book Fairs

From Friday to Saturday at Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall; they will welcome friends, family and students of Kaimuki Middle School.  Support the school and get started on Christmas shopping right at the bookstore!  Check out our schedule of events below for special Kaimuki Middle School events.  For more info, visit the B&N Kahala website.

On Saturday at Barnes & Noble Ala Moana, they will welcome friends, family and students of Voyager Public Charter School.  Also, join Voyager PCS’ principal for a special storytelling at 1:00 pm under the Winnie the Pooh Tree!  Click here for more info.

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Now on to the events…

Friday, December 9

• “Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?” free presentation and screening – These optional screenings are quick, easy, and non-invasive.  Results are confidential.  Parents or caregivers may also choose to schedule private screenings at a later date with EEIP Project staff.  When your child enters kindergarten, he or she will participate in the Hawaii State School Readiness Assessment and hopefully be ready to pass it with flying colors!  Wahiawa Public Library (820 California Ave);  10:30 A.M.  For more information about the project, please call the LDAH-EEIP School Readiness Project at 696-5361.

• Bookish Novels on the Big Screen: The Makioka Sisters – This lyrical adaptation of the beloved novel by Junichiro Tanizaki was a late-career triumph for director Kon Ichikawa. Structured around the changing of the seasons, The Makioka Sisters (Sasame-yuki) follows the lives of four siblings who have taken on their family’s kimono manufacturing business in the years leading up to the Pacific War.  Come to the Honolulu Academy of Arts Doris Duke Theatre at 1:00 P.M. with a second showing at 7:30 P.M. to enjoy this masterpiece of filmmaking.  To learn more about the Doris Duke Theatre’s Bookish Novels on the Big Screen series, check out our post.

• Polar Express Storytime – A special invitation to you and your kids to join us for our traditional Barnes & Noble Polar Express Party, highlighted by a special reading of the holiday classic, hot chocolate and cookies. Children are encouraged to wear their pajamas.  Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall; 7:00 P.M.  For more info, click here.  Also, Barnes & Noble Ala Moana and Lahaina will be hosting similar events.

Saturday, December 10

• Food Writing for Food Lovers w/ Dianne Jacob – Food writer and editor Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food, is here in Honolulu to share her insights at an all-day workshop titled “Food Writing for Food Lovers.”  Foodies, bloggers, writers, and cookbook authors, as well as aspiring freelance writers, public relations professionals, caterers and chefs looking to publish a cookbook, and those who want to learn more about the food writing world are invited to come. The limited-attendance event will cost $75, which includes class fees, samples, and a chance to win one of several exciting doorprizes from our sponsors (!). If you wish to reserve a discounted purchase of Dianne Jacob’s book ahead of time, you may for a total fee of $91.  Queen Emma Gardens Tea Room (1511 Nuuanu Avenue); 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.  For more info and to purchase tickets, visit this event info website.

• Hanafuda: Hawaii Style – Helen Nakano will teach the basics of Hanafuda: Hawaii Style, a cherished island tradition once enjoyed in the plantation communities by children and adults of all cultures.  Nakano will also present methods of teaching others the game and share myths and symbolism of the card designs.  This program is suitable for ages 12 and older. Kapolei Public Library (1020 Manawai Street); 10:30 A.M.  For more information, please call the Library at 693-7050.

• “A Magical Christmas” featuring The Amazing Alan Arita – Magician Alan Arita will perform a Christmas Magic Show.  A Christmas craft activity for the whole family will follow the magic show, and light refreshments will be served.  This program is suitable for ages 3 and older.  Hawaii Kai Public Library (249 Lunalilo Home Road); 10:30 A.M.  For more information, please call the Library at 397-5833.

• Hurricane Safety Storytime – Children ages 3 – 5, accompanied by a parent or caregiver, are invited to this free program to experience an interactive reading of The 3 I’o Brothers and the Big Bad Hurricane, a one-of-a- kind children’s book created by the National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  The book was prepared to promote hurricane safety in a unique way to educate Hawaii’s youth.  The National Weather Service has distributed this book to every public library in the state. Hawaii State Library (478 South King Street); 10:30 A.M.  For more information, please call the Library’s Edna Allyn Room for Children at 586-3510.

• The Value of Hawai‘i public discussion – Big Island Event!  The book store in downtown Hilo will host a public discussion about the future of Hawai’i. Please join The Value of Hawai‘i co-editor Jon Osorio and author and educator Mark Panek for a public discussion of Hawai‘i political and social issues, what we value about our home, and our community’s power and responsibility to work towards a different future. Basically Books (160 Kamehameha Ave.); 11:00 A.M.  Free event; all are welcome.  Visit http://tvoh.manoa.hawaii.edu to learn more.

• Special Saturday Storytime – In conjunction with their bookfair, the students of Kaimuki Middle School will be hosting a special Saturday Storytime for the keiki. You get a shopping break and the kids get entertained!  Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall; 11:00 A.M.  For more info, click here.

• KAPOHO: Memoir of a Modern Pompeii book signing – Free event.  Meet author Frances Kakugawa for a book signing of her latest book.  In KAPOHO: Memoir of a Modern Pompeii, her fifth release from Watermark Publishing, Frances H. Kakugawa shares the stories of her life in the town of Kapoho on the Island of Hawai‘i—a town that no longer exists.  Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall (4211 Waialae Ave.); 11:00 A.M.  For more info, click here.

• Children’s Storytime – Come to the book store every Saturday for a fun keiki story time reading.  This week they will be reading I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince. Come and find out if a brawny railroad switchman named Jack will do his job in time to save an oblivious ant that’s traveling eastbound — on a westbound track — from getting smacked by a freight train.  Barnes & Noble Ala Moana Center; 11:00 A.M.  For more information, click here.

• Meet Author Alice Inoue – Alice Inoue will be presenting her newest release, Just Ask Alice! Guidance on Life and Living. Come and meet the author and have her sign your book.  Barnes & Noble Ala Moana Center (1450 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 1272); 12:30 P.M.  For more information, call the book store at 808-949-7307 and visit B&N.com.

• Author Event with Jenniffer Welliver – Big Island residents!  Come to the bookstore in Hilo to meet Jenniffer Welliver, the author of That’s NOT What Grandmas Are For and That’s NOT What Grandpas Are For.  She is also the author of Sip & Nibble: How I Lost 120 Pounds, a fascinating book about one woman’s journey to lose weight through a relatively unknown and unapproved procedure in the USA called the Lap Band Surgery.  Basically Books (160 Kamehameha Avenue, Hilo); 2:00 P.M.  To learn more about Jennifer and her work, please visit her at www.jwelliverbooks.com. For more information about this event, please contact the bookstore at (808) 961-0144 or toll-free at 1-800-903-MAPS.

• Book Signing for Tasi’s Gift: A Tale of Samoa – Autograph sessions for the children’s picture book Tasi’s Gift: A Tale of Samoa will be held before and after the public showing of the Honolulu Theatre for Youth play of the same name.  The play starts at 4:30 p.m. and you can find more information about the show and purchase tickets by visiting the HTY website.  The book signing, with author Tamara Montgomery, will be held in the same venue as the play:  Tenney Theatre in the Cathedral of St. Andrew.  

Sunday, December 11

• National Angry Birds Day – Come join Barnes & Noble in celebration of those wacky Angry Birds. Enter contests to win prizes during the festivities.  Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall (click here for more info) and B&N Ala Moana where they will be holding a scavenger hunt for the Mighty Eagle token, coloring activities and an Angry Egg guess game (click here for info). 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.  

• Sunday Storytime with Kaimuki Middle School – As the bookfair winds down, the students of Kaimuki Middle School would like to treat your kids to a Storytime at noon today.  Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall; 12:00 Noon.  For more info, click here.

• Bookish Novels on the Big Screen: High and Low – Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in this highly influential domestic drama and police procedural from Akira Kurosawa. Adapting Ed McBain’s detective novel King’s Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from a compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a diabolical treatise on contemporary Japanese society.  Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.  There will be three separate showings at 1:00 P.M., 4:00 P.M., and 7:30 P.M.  Dr. Lucy Lower Associate Professor of Japanese Literature, University of Hawaii at Mānoa (retired) will introduce the film at 7:30pm.  To learn more about the Doris Duke Theatre’s Bookish Novels on the Big Screen series, check out our post.

• GET together with BOOKS Event w/ author Matthew Kaopio – Come down to Ward Warehouse on the Ewa end for a special book signing event with inspiring author Matthew Kaopio.  He will be reading from and signing copies of his latest novel, Up Among the Stars [read our review here], which will be available at the store.  Free and open to the public!  Native Books / Na Mea Hawaii (Ward Warehouse); 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.  For more info, call (808) 596-8885.

• Holiday Season Puppet Times – Puppeteer Christy Lipps will present her favorite children’s Holiday Season stories in a lively puppet show featuring beautifully hand-crafted puppets, finger plays, and songs.  The Friends of Kaneohe Public Library are sponsoring the program which is suitable for all ages.  Kaneohe Public Library; 2:00 P.M.  For more information, please call the library at 233-5676.

• Book Launching and Discussion with author Dennis Loo – Hear Professor Dennis Loo speak on his newly-published book: Globalization and the Demolition of Society, Fundamental Challenge to the Free Marketers and a Primer for a Radically Different Future.  In this wide-ranging, in depth and timely book, Dennis Loo shows why free market fundamentalism and unrestrained indivdiualism – also known as neoliberalism – represents “the most dangerous movement in history.”  Revolution Books Honolulu (2626 South King Street); 3:00 P.M.  For more info call the bookstore at (808) 944-3106 or visit revolutionbookshonolulu.org.

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Remember, all events listed above may be subject to change. Please contact the venue beforehand if you plan on attending. We encourage you to click on the links that are included with the events in the time line above. More events can be found on our Hawaiʻi Book Blog Events Calendar. You can also keep up with events through us on Twitter by following @HawaiiBookBlog.

If you have an event you would like us to help promote, please leave us a comment here or e-mail me at aalba@hawaiibookblog.com. Mahalo and have a great weekend!