How Bilingual Books Are Helping Pacific Islander Students Learn English 0 The expansion of locally published children’s books comes as Hawaii schools try to promote multilingualism.
A local independent publishing house has released a new collection of bilingual learn-to-read books geared toward Pacific Islander native speakers in an attempt to build literacy among kids and promote multilingualism in the islands.
The books are the latest in the “Island Readers” series, which was first published by Bess Press in 2016. The collection was expanded in mid-October to include bilingual readers in Marshallese, Chuukese and the Hawaiian language.
Interest in the illustrated books upon launch ran high among Hawaii teachers because of their strong place-based themes that resonated with students.
