Colorful children's book cover titled “Maui Slows the Sun,” written by Gabrielle Ahuli'i and illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong.

Māui Slows the Sun

written by Gabrielle Ahuli‘i, illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong

The fifth title in the Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones series, Māui Slows the Sun introduces kids ages 0-4 to one of Hawai‘i’s best-known legends about Māui the demigod.

The sun has been racing across the sky, preventing people from finishing their daily chores. Māui decides to confront the sun and races up Haleakalā to greet him as he rises.

Using his olonā rope, Māui lassoes one of the sun’s rays, holds him tight, and convinces him to slow his travels across the sky so Māui’s mother may have time to dry her kapa and people can enjoy the daylight longer.
The sun compromises and says he will slow his pace for half the year (summer) yet speed up the other half (winter).

In simple, poetic language, this origin story about day time, night time, and the seasons, gives small kids a taste of Hawai‘i’s rich history of storytelling.

​5 x 6 inches
16 pages
$8.95
ISBN 978-1-933067-98-8

Blue graphic with curved white text reading “Hawaii for Little Ones,” decorated with yellow flowers
Order
Hawai‘i Public Radio Interview with Author
  • Illustration of young Maui and island villagers on a tropical Polynesian island beside the ocean, with a canoe, mountains, palm trees, and the text “On a small island in the middle of the ocean, there lived a young boy. His name was Maui.”
  • Illustrated children’s book page showing a stylized smiling sun over Maui’s dark, mountainous landscape, with text about the sun’s rays never reaching the land.
  • Illustration of Maui watching his mother pound kapa cloth outdoors near the ocean, with tropical plants and text describing his restless sadness.

Other titles in the Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones series

Blue graphic with white text reading “A Way for Little Ones,” surrounded by yellow flowers and playful white lettering.
  • Children’s book cover for “Māui Hooks the Islands,” featuring Māui fishing over ocean waves, written by Gabrielle Ahuliʻi and illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong.
  • Children’s book cover for “Hiʻīaka Battles the Wind,” featuring a stylized Hawaiian woman amid tropical foliage, with “Hawaiian for Little Ones Legends” logo and author Gabrielle Ahuliʻi.
  • Illustrated children's book cover for “Kaiona Guides the Lost,” featuring a lush Hawaiian forest, a red bird, and diverse children; written by Gabrielle Ahuli’i and illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong.
  • Colorful children’s book cover for “Maui Slows the Sun,” written by Gabrielle Ahuliʻi and illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong.
  • Children’s book cover for “Hina,” featuring a smiling blue moon character over a stylized nighttime island landscape; written by Gabrielle Ahulii and illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong.
  • Children’s book cover for “Naupaka,” featuring two figures beside a blue Hawaiian pond surrounded by tropical foliage and flowers.
  • Children’s book cover, “Pele Finds a Home,” featuring an Indigenous Hawaiian family illustration and text by Gabrielle Ahuli’i, illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong.
  • Children's book cover for "Lea: Goddess of Canoe Builders," featuring a child in a canoe, a flying bird, and colorful blue-and-yellow artwork.