Celebrate ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH by reading my book, EASTER ISLAND: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past

The month of May is national Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and the perfect time to read my book EASTER ISLAND: Giant Stone Statures Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past. You can look for it in your library or download it to your Kindle. I was inspired to write the book after a visit to Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) where I had the opportunity to walk among the giant statues and learn about the people who made them long ago.

Few places in the world are as mysterious or intriguing as Easter Island, a tiny, isolated outcrop of volcanic land that lies in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. When Europeans first stumbled on the island--landing on Easter Sunday 1722--they found a rocky, treeless coast lined with rows of giant stone statues, and a quiet farming and fishing community. Since then, this remote island has raised many questions. Who were the first inhabitants and where did they come from? How did they live? And why did they create such huge stone structures?

This book explains how the answers to many of these questions have been uncovered by archeologists or found in legends and family histories. In about 400 A.D., a small group of seafarers reached the uninhabited island and established a new settlement incorporating many of the traditions found elsewhere in Polynesia. They developed a rich and complex culture that lasted for more than a thousand years. Today large jets traveling between Santiago, Chile, and Tahiti stop at Easter Island several times a week. Thousands of people come to the island each year to see the ancient giant stone statues and to explore what has been called the world's largest open-air museum. Continued study of this remote island will help us gain a better understanding of its people and their history, as well as the fascinating story behind the giant "living faces" that line its shores.

EASTER ISLAND: The Perfect book to read during AAPI HERITAGE MONTH

The month of May is Asian American Pacific IslanderHeritage Month, celebrating the community’s contributions to the cultural, social, and political fabric of this country. It is the perfect time to read my book EASTER ISLAND: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Richand Tragic Past (Clarion Books, 2000.)

You can find it as an ebook, EASTER ISLAND: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past is available as an ebook on Amazon. You can also look for it in your library.

Easter Island is the most remote inhabited place on Earth. It is located in the easternmost corner of the large triangle of Pacific Islands known as Polynesia. The first European visitor to Easter Island was a Dutch sea captain, Jacob Roggeveen, who landed there on April 5, 1722. In the tradition of his time he named his “discovery” for the day of his arrival which was Easter Sunday. Today the island is known both as Easter Island (Isla de Pascua in Spanish) and Rapa Nui, a Polynesian name given to it in the 19^th century by Tahitian sailors. Both the people and the traditional Easter Island language are known today as Rapanui.

The scale of the Easter Island statues is enormous.

As we look at Easter Island today we see examples of humankind’s most amazing artistic achievements. We also see records of some of its darkest moments. Much remains to be learned about its earliest inhabitants who came to the island in about A.D. 400. We know that they were farmers and fishermen, and that as they shaped the land to fit their needs they gradually used up many of the island’s limited resources. In many ways Easter Island is a model for the world we live in today and is a reminder that natural resources must be used wisely.

Giant statues called moai were placed on platforms called ahu.

SCBWI Reading List Celebrates Asian Pacific Islander Heritage

 

Look for my book EASTER ISLAND: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past

Celebrate Asian Pacific Islander Heritage

This month, SCBWI celebrates the voices of and about Asian and Pacific Island heritage. On this list, you will find OwnVoices books, cultural retellings, historical events, modern stories and more. So, grab a book and celebrate Asian Pacific Islander Heritage!

 

Look for my book EASTER ISLAND in the Nonfiction list. 

Giant stone statues on Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) reveal a rich and complex history. Few places in the world are as mysterious or intriguing as Easter Island, a tiny, isolated volcanic outcrop in the Pacific Ocean. When Europeans first stumbled on Easter Island in the 1700s they found a rocky, treeless coast lined with rows of giant stone statues, and a quiet farming and fishing community. Since then, this remote island has raised many questions. Who were the first inhabitants, and where did they come from? And why did they create such giant stone structures? Answers to many of these questions have been uncovered by archeologists or found in legends and family histories. This book, illustrated with brilliant color photographs, gives a clear and concise account of one of the most fascinating places on earth.

  

Great Reads. Important Themes.
Looking for the perfect book for your reader? We have that!
Each month, SCBWI features books written and illustrated by its members. And every month highlights a new theme that will foster discussions, activities, and enjoyment!
Storytelling done right.

PHOTO TIP #2 for Illustrating Your Next Book: Double Page Spreads

For many years I worked with professional photographers who illustrated my books with their photos. We worked as a team--I wrote the text and the photographer took the pictures. I learned a great deal about photography from them. I have been both author and photographer for several of my newest books, including Hatching Chicks in Room 6 and Butterflies in Room 6. The first book for which I was both author and photographer was Easter Island (Clarion, 2000)

As I was cleaning out files recently I found a list of photo tips from my friend and fellow Grinnellian, Martha Cooper, a professional photographer and illustrator of three children's books, My Two Worlds, Lion Dancer and Anthony Reynoso: Born to Rope. At a class we taught together some years ago she handed out a list of photo tips. Today, almost everyone is a photographer--we carry cameras in our pockets in our phones. Whether you are illustrating a children's book, creating a magazine story, or assembling a slide show or family album, or even just sharing a favorite photo with a friend, I think you will find her advice useful.

LOOK and THINK before you shoot. A good eye is more important than a good camera.
Tip #2: Keep space restraints in mind. Sometimes a single photo is enough to tell a whole story. If your photos are likely to be used small, keep your compositions simple. If there is a chance of a double page spread, be sure to shoot some horizontals. (Martha Cooper)

 
Example: When I visited Easter Island, I purposely shot the picture of Ahu Tongariki, the row of stone figures at one of the historical sites, as a horizontal leaving plenty of room in the sky for text, anticipating that it would work well for the copyright and table of contents at the beginning of the book. (Easter Island is out of print but available as an e-book at Amazon.)

EASTER ISLAND is Now a Kindle Book

My book, EASTER ISLAND is now available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle. It was originally published by Clarion Books in 2000 and is out of print. The cover has been redesigned but the text and full color photos inside are the same as in the original book. EASTER ISLAND is illustrated with my own photos, taken on my visit to the island in 1996. I am happy to have EASTER ISLAND now available to new readers as an e-book. You can read it with a Kindle app on various devices (I use my iPad) or on your computer.

REVIEW
School Library Journal, starred review
Arnold provides a clear and concise look at the island and the many mysteries that surround it, detailing its early settlement, its people and resources, and the rise and fall of its rich and complex civilization. One of the most intriguing questions that remains unanswered is how the ancient Rapanui people carved and erected hundreds of giant stone statues found all over the island. The author carefully explains how scientists have theorized on the early history and how the decimation over time of the islands natural resources and its isolation from trade routes may have led to its decline in population. The book concludes with a quick look at the tourism that is renewing pride in the unique heritage of the few hundred remaining Rapanui people, as the island becomes a model open-air museum.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Although the purpose of the moai [giant statues] that seem to stand sentinel around the famous island is obviously the intriguing mystery here, Arnold sets the stone figures into cultural perspective, examining what archaeologists, anthropologists, missionaries, explorers, and descendants of island settlers have discovered concerning the Polynesians who carved them. In a dozen succinct chapters she surveys the land and its original topography, discusses legends about the earliest settlers, reconstructs how the moai were carved, moved, and placed, and speculates on how deforestation, overfarming, overhunting, clan warfare, and European-borne disease contributed to the decline of the island civilization.

Project: Easter Island Mural

A number of years ago I did an author visit at Mission Avenue Elementary School in Sacramento and saw this wonderful mural of one of the giant Easter Island statues called moai.  It was made by the sixth graders after they read my book Easter Island: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past. After making a grid pattern on a small photographic image of the moai, each student colored one piece of 9" x 12" paper with the corresponding shapes and colors. When assembled on the wall, the mural depicted one of the moai close to actual size and made an impressive image for everyone in the school to see.

Easter Island is out of print but new and used copies are available on Amazon. You may also be able to find it in your library.

Sailing the High Seas of the Publishing World

The following is an excerpt from a talk that I gave at the SCBWI-LA Writer’s Day in 2006.

I know almost nothing about sailing and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been on a sailboat. But one thing that has always fascinated me is how boats manage to sail against the wind. It’s easy to see how one sails with the wind–you simply stick out your sail and the wind pushes you forward. But how do you get back where you came from–or how do you reach a destination that is in the opposite direction?
The answer is that you tack. You sail across the wind in a zigzag pattern. You reach your goal by aiming elsewhere. And sometimes, as you are zigging and zagging, you make new discoveries along the way, like the ancient Polynesian navigators who sailed in one direction from their homeland in central Polynesia and found Hawaii, and went in the other direction and discovered a tiny speck of land now called Easter Island, or Rapanui.
Tacking against the wind also has its application in writing.  Whether one is an already published writer or hoping to be published, the most direct route to your next book may be to change your course and try something new. It could be something fairly simple such as changing your point of view or writing for a different age group, or it could be a more drastic change such as adopting a while new format or genre.

Today, nearly ten years after I gave that talk, the publishing world continues to evolve. The key is to evolve along with it, while staying true to yourself.

Easter Island: Captions Add Information

Perhaps the most exotic site I’ve ever visited is Easter Island in the South Pacific, where I went to photograph and research my book, Easter Island: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past. Although I had read about the giant statues and the people who made them a thousand years ago, nothing prepared me for standing in the ancient quarry amid dozens of half carved statues that never made it to their seaside platforms or climbing to the top of the cliff where the birdman rituals were once performed. My personal experience on Easter Island was important for bringing a sense of immediacy to my book, but the cost of time and travel meant that I could only spend a short time there. After I got home I needed to do extensive museum and library research as well. It took me a year to collect everything I needed and when I was ready to write I had a box bursting with notes, brochures, books, tapes, and other research materials. My book was for children ages ten and up so I knew I was limited to a manuscript of about 5000 words. Several months later, after distilling the mass of material I had collected to its essential points, the manuscript was ready to turn in to my editor.

The agony of being a nonfiction writer is that the space allotted for text in the book is never enough for all that wonderful information that was discovered in the research. This is particularly true when writing for children since the text and page length of the book are relatively short. Even if I were able to include every detail, I don’t want to overwhelm the reader by providing more than he or she wants to know. But there are several ways I supplement the information included in the main text and enrich the overall impact of the book: through captions, sidebars, charts, maps, time lines, projects, list of further resources, author notes and acknowledgments.

Since most books for children are widely illustrated, there are ample opportunities to add information through captions. Minimally the caption needs to identify the illustration and show how it ties into the text, but often there is room to elaborate. For instance, in my book Easter Island, a scenic photo showing several cultivated fields has the following caption: View from the crater Puna Pau. Now, as in ancient times, much of Easter Island’s land is tilled for agriculture. (Captions are almost always written in the present tense) Throughout the book I used captions not only to add information but to tie the photos and text together to create a more unified presentation.

Note:  You can read more about Easter Island at my October 1, 2012 post on my travel blog The Intrepid Tourist.