Kili and the Singing Tree Snails, Book of the Month

In conjunction with Bishop Museum’s upcoming inaugural Kāhuli Festival on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, we feature Bishop Museum Press’s children’s book Kili and the Singing Tree Snails.

This story follows young boy Kili and his Tūtū as they venture to Kaniakapūpū, the king’s summer home, during the reign of Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III. There, Kili meets the Pūpū Kani Oe, the legendary singing snails of the mountains and the forest, who say:

“We live at the top of mountain ridges. Our families have changed, separated by the deep valleys. Though we look different from one another, we are still part of one another. Still connected to the land, we are all keiki o ka ‘āina, children of Hawaiʻi nei."

Ever since she was a keiki, book author Janice Crowl loved to read and was curious about the tiny creatures she found in Hawai‘i’s natural world, from mauka to makai. After earning a degree in English from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, she studied horticulture and pursued her love of the outdoors, hiking and learning about native species. She has taught garden-based curricula in school gardens to promote environmental stewardship and literacy.

Author Janice Crowl

Her story Kili and the Singing Tree Snails is brought to life by the illustrations of Hawaiian artist Harinani Orme. Harinani’s body of work explores the past as part of a continuum through the present and into the future, employing the myths and traditions of old Hawaiʻi in narrative paintings. As a visual interpreter she utilizes symbols as harbingers whose messages embody lost and forgotten knowledge while they reconnect the akua, ancestors, family and community of her culture.