Hawaiian Christmas Tree Book

Eight-year-old Kalei is excited because Christmas trees are coming to Honolulu for the first time. A ship will bring them soon. Her parents agree to buy a tree, and the family goes to the tree lot to choose one. Kalei chooses a tree that is small, but looks very green and healthy. She wants to plant the tree so that they will have it for many Christmases. But everyone tells her that cut trees last only a short time before they lose their needles and die. Will Kalei see a Christmas miracle with her tree?

I'm sure that Christmas trees are now as common in Hawaii as they are in the rest of the states, so I would have liked a time frame for this. However, the illustrations are charming. The text is rather long, so this is not for the very young. But it does give an idea of the Hawaiian culture, and introduces the reader to some Hawaiian words.