Review by Wanda Adams The Honolulu Advertiser December 7 1996
This is a Hawaii version of the familiar story of a special confection that just as soon as his maker is finished with him gets up and runs away. In this case however the animated foodstuff is rice cake with a nori jacket takuan eyes a mouth of red ginger and an umeboshi heart.
Its the heart that makes all the trouble: No sooner is it set in his starchy little body than the Musubi Man is off and running gathering up a taro grower and his wife a poi dog a mynah bird and a mongoose along the way. The musubi mans culminating adventure come on the shoulder of a radical surfer dude but he never makes it back to the taro patch.
This story is charmingly told and the illustrations are the sort that invite rereading because there are so many sweet little details tucked into every picture that you just want to look and look and laugh.
Review from Iowa Reading Journal November 1 1997
The Musubi Man is a Hawaiian version of The Gingerbread Man with an old woman creating a musubi man out of cooked rice who runs away yelling Run Run as fast as you can! You no can catch me Im one musubi man! Various Hawaiian animals try to help the old woman catch the musubi man but he is determined not to be eaten. When the musubi man reaches the ocean he is forced to jump onto the back of a surfer who tries to eat him. The ingenuity of the musubi man saves his life and a surprise ending complete with a Hawaiian flair to this unique tale. Throughout the story children are introduced to Hawaiian terms and dialect which are accompanied by a glossary of words as the end of the story. Students can compare this Hawaiian story with other Gingerbread Man tales differentiating among characters and events and identifying the unique influences of location and culture.
Review from Hawaii State Teachers Association Magazine January 1 2000
How many generations of children grew up learning to read Cinderella The Gingerbread Man or The Princess and the Pea? How many of us continue to read these stories to our students our children our grandchildren? Better than that how many of us have now discovered and now also regale them with Sumorella The Musubi Man and The Prince and The Li Hing Mui? They are Hawaii's version of the time-honored fairy tales adapted by Kailua Elementary librarian Sandi Takayama for use in libraries classrooms and in the home.
Takayama an aspiring writer from an early age wrote these fairytales as a way of bringing traditional tales to life in local context.
Sumorella tells the story about Mango Boys dream of becoming a sumotori while the gingerbread man is transformed into The Musubi Man who ends up on the international surfing circuit. In The Prince and the Li Hing Mui the princess finds a prince who is sensitive enough to be kept awake by a li hing mui under piles of featherbeds and mattresses.
Takayamas books published by The Bess Press are used by teachers in different and creative ways. One teacher created a play based on one of the stories while an ESL teacher used it to introduce students to aspects of local culture. R
In her own classes Takayma reads the stories to her students as a way of comparing and contrasting the adapted and traditional versions. As the writer she also discusses the writing process and shows students her many revisions. But mostly the books are used to encourage and develop a love of reading in elementary school age children.
Reading is extremely important in so many ways - not just as a basic skill for future career opportunities but as a way to enrich a childs life by offering new ideas new viewpoints different experiences said Takayama. I can think of books that changed the way I thought about life and the world. I know I would be a different person today if I hadnt read them.
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