Baby humpback saves the day

"Kohola and the Giant Waves" (Island Heritage, $13.95), by Walter C. Dudley, explores how ocean critters respond to a tsunami.

Kohola is a baby humpback whale who was born in Hawaii and has traveled back to his home in Alaska. One day he observes an earthquake and sees the seafloor rise. Kohola uses a network of sperm whale friends to deliver a warning to his sea creature friends back in Hawaii.

Kohola’s efforts save the day, and he returns to the islands a hero that winter.

A section in the back of the book details the science behind the story, from tsunami warnings to whale songs.

Dudley has worked as a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in the department of marine science for more than 20 years and has been featured in more than 30 television documentaries dealing with oceanography.

Local artist Don Robinson illustrated the book.

Activity books take look at life in isles

Coloring by numbers, dot-to-dots, mazes and word searches are among the activities found in two new coloring and activity books focusing on local lifestyle.

Ruth Moen illustrated "The ABC Hawai‘i Coloring and Activity Book" (BeachHouse Publishing, $4.95), which features a hula girl holding a lei for the "A is for Aloha" page. It ends with "Z is for Zoo."

A maze leads hikers to a waterfall and a secret code teaches youngsters about the humuhumunuku­nukuapuaa. Moen lives on Oahu and has worked as an illustrator, muralist, art director and designer.

"My Hawai‘i Coloring and Activity Book" (BeachHouse Publishing, $4.95), illustrated by Hollyanne Shell, is a collection of the things that make Hawaii special — shave ice, ukulele, lei and sea turtles. Kids can help a student find his slippers through a simple maze, connect the dots to draw a hibiscus and circle a crab that’s different from the others.

Shell graduated with a fine-arts degree from Columbus College of Art & Design. She now resides on Oahu.

The books are suggested for 2- to 5-year-olds.