“MANA: A JOURNAL OF HAWAI’I”

Edited by Christine Hitt (Watermark, $32.95)

Filled with brilliant and lively photographs and incisive reporting on political and economic issues, as well as the islands’ history and culture, MANA magazine was launched in 2012 “as an independent voice for the Hawaiian community,” writes former editor Christine Hitt in her introduction to a book of selections from the magazine, which ceased publication last year.

Included are stirring photos of Kahoolawe island and the multigenerational volunteers restoring it; updates on the local music, fashion and farming industries; and historically informed reports on the state of water rights and movements for self-determination and sovereignty. A frank, unsparing account by Nainoa Thompson about the lead-up to the 1978 foundering of the Hokule‘a voyaging canoe in the Molokai Channel and the disappearance of Eddie Aikau is extremely moving, alongside many photos of Aikau and other crew members from the time.

Throughout this beautiful keepsake, designed by Janelle Kalawe-Ching, all these issues and more are brought to life through storytelling and portraits. The future, in the faces of high school students in the isolated community of Hana, Maui, looks bright.

Carrying on the torch, a percentage of the book’s earnings goes to ‘Ahahui Haku Mo‘olelo, the Hawaiian Journalists Association.

“PAINTINGS, PRINTS AND DRAWINGS OF HAWAII FROM THE SAM AND MARY COOKE COLLECTION”

David W. Forbes (Manoa Heritage Center, $100)

Published a year after the death of Honolulu businessman Samuel Alexander Cooke — a longtime benefactor, with his wife, Mary, of the arts and conservation in Hawaii — this gorgeous, large-format book provides a view of the Cookes’ important but rarely seen private collection of Hawaii art. Interior photographs of Kuali‘i, their historic Manoa home, a graceful Tudor structure, are also featured.

The reader is struck by scenes of a Hawaii that existed before Western development: a quiet gathering of Hawaiians in a cathedral-like grove of virgin kukui trees; early portraits of Hawaiians, such as Princess Nahienaena, in purely Hawaiian attire; the calm, empty shoreline behind the battle between men and cetaceans in “A Shoal of Sperm Whale off Hawaii Island in 1828,” and a 1908 painting of a sheer curtain of green, “Manoa Valley From Waikiki,” by D. Howard Hitchcock.

There are views of a scalding red “Kilauea at Dusk,” by Jules Tavernier from 1887; a “Haleiwa Net Fisherman” casting into high waves from rocks, by Lionel Walden from 1912; and “Molokai North Shore Cliffs” and many panoramas of Hanalei Valley, including a Chinese rice farm, painted by Esther Mabel Crawford in 1929. All capture the incomparable light and skies of our islands.

Looking at so many scenes of unspoiled places, one can understand why Cooke, whose missionary great-great-grandparents arrived here in 1837, worked with The Nature Conservancy and others to preserve Hawaii’s natural and cultural sites. He had a good example in his grandfather, who took care not to disturb the Kuka‘o‘o heiau on his land when he built his house. As she writes in the foreword, Mary Cooke is converting Kuali‘i into a historic-house museum open to the public.

Proceeds from sales of the book will benefit the nonprofit Manoa Heritage Center.

“PLANTS FOR OUR HEALING”

May Kealoha (self-published, $24.95)

Hiking is more popular now than ever, it seems, and interest in herbal medicine and laau lapaau, traditional Hawaiian healing with plants, is growing. Why not combine the two and learn about the plants and trees you see along the trail?

A one-stop reference to all Hawaii’s plants that provide nurture and nourishment was the simple, appealing concept behind May Kealoha’s simple and appealing book of large photographs, “Plants for Our Healing,” with photo editing by Jennifer Mercado and photography by Michael Ross and others.

It is a visual glossary comprising useful plants: endemic, indigenous and introduced. Organized alphabetically, the book takes you from the yellow-flowering aalii tree to wi, the tamarind tree. In between you’ll find pale-green ahinahina, shiny akulekule, awa, rosy kihapai, laukahi, mamaki, yellow moa, noni and more.

In her introduction Kealoha, a registered nurse, explains that the book is not comprehensive; and while she gives Hawaiian, scientific and common names, i.e. koali/convolvulaceae/morning glory, the uses of the plants are not described. More information can be found in her bibliography and at Na Mea/Native Books, where this book is sold.

Leafing through these pages produces a feeling of peace, tranquility and spiritual healing, as if you’re walking through a botanical garden or the woods.

It will be a welcome gift for hikers, walkers, gatherers, gardeners and those who simply want to learn more about Hawaiian culture and medicine and the green, growing world around us.