Rex and friends back at Bishop Museum

The Hawaiian Islands are way too young to have ever had dinosaurs, but that doesn’t stop the creatures from making regular visits to the Bishop Museum.

"Oahu, only 4 million years old, missed dinosaurs by 61 million years. That in itself is educational," said Mike Shanahan, the museum’s director of education. "Having the exhibit is a good way to address how young our islands are in geological time, as well as occurrence of species extinction."

The newest exhibit, "Life Through Time: Dinosaurs and Ice-Age Mammals," features 10 life-sized, moving and roaring creatures. Featured animals include a woolly mammoth, a family of saber-toothed cats and a giant sloth. The dinosaur section includes an Apatosaurus, which is 32 feet long from nose to tail, and a Tyrannosaurus rex, measuring about 8 feet high and 17 feet long.

"Hawaii has very few other venues for showing dinosaurs and ice-age mammals, so local kids don’t get to see these sorts of exhibits on a regular basis," Shanahan said."Bishop Museum started bringing dinosaurs in back in the late ’80s and they have become one of our most popular draws.Many fads come and go, but the appeal of ice-age mammals and especially dino­saurs to young children has remained a constant for a century."

A similar exhibit from the same company visited Pearlridge Center in 2010.

The museum also plans to debut a 25-minute planetarium show for youngsters called "In My Backyard," geared to children in grades kindergarten to 3. The show, which will play at 11 a.m. daily through Labor Day, explores the moon, sun and stars from a child’s perspective.

—Nancy Arcayna, Star-Advertiser

For comic book fans, May 4 is a celebration

For 11 years the first Saturday in May has been designated as Free Comic Book Day, with participating libraries and shops nationwide giving away millions of comic books for all ages.

This year’s event features a preponderance of comics for young readers.

Whether you go to a library or a comic book store, you should be able to find copies of "Kaboom! Summer Blast!" with stories from Cartoon Network’s "Adventure Time" and "Regular Show," a Sesame Street/Strawberry Shortcake flipbook that features two comics in the same book, "SpongeBob Freestyle Funnies" and "The Smurfs," with two stories new to U.S. readers.

Also be on the lookout for two flipbooks featuring pairs of stories that kids should enjoy: One pair features David Petersen’s fine fantasy tale "Mouse Guard" (a classically illustrated adventure story about medieval field mice protecting their kind with swords) and "Rust" (about rocket boy Jet Jones learning about life on a farm), and the other pair featuring video game stars Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man, their stories both called "Worlds Collide."

Other promising titles include coming-of-age story "Marble Season" from the alternative cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez, and a preview of a Pippi Longstocking book that will be out next month, an English translation of stories originally published in Swedish in the 1950s.

For readers who love the Sunday "Prince Valiant" strip, there’ll be a book that collects two stories from original creator Hal Foster’s 1950 comic peak.

At 10:30 a.m. at the McCully-Moiliili Public Library, California-based writer-cartoonist Ray Friesent will talk about his work and his new graphic novel, "Pirate Penguin Versus Ninja Chicken." Local artist group Pen & Ink Work will follow up with a drawing demonstration, discussion of their artwork in the anthology "Hachi Maru Hachi," and lead games and other activities.

Select local libraries will feature appearances by the "Star Wars"-inspired characters from the Pacific Outpost of the 501st Imperial Legion, Rebel Legion Hawaii and the Costumers Guild of Hawaii.

Visit www.librarieshawaii.org.

—Gary Chun, Star-Advertiser

Aquarium marks seasons’ change

The Waikiki Aquarium will usher in kau wela, or summer, in accordance with Hawaiian tradition from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The "Seasons and the Sea" ceremony is a unique sunset observance marking the changing of the seasons from hooilo (wet) to kau wela (hot or warm-dry).

Experience the ceremony, led by cultural adviser Sam ‘Ohu Gon III, along with hula, chant and storytelling performances, as the sun sets into the crown of Puu o Kapolei, a once-a-year occurrence.

Meet in the area just Ewa (west) of the aquarium grounds, 2777 Kalakaua Ave. Bring mats or low chairs and sunglasses.

The event is free. Call 440-9027 or email maryloufoley@waquarium.org.