Our Mission

Children’s Literature Hawai‘i (CLH) believes that literature should be a primary part of every child’s education. CLH promotes opportunities to experience, interpret, and create children’s literature through activities such as reading, storytelling, art, drama, song, and scholarly discussion.

CLH believes literature should be a primary part of every child's education and promotes opportunities for the community to experience, interpret, and create children's literature in all its forms. CLH's purpose includes the following goals:

• Present the Biennial Conference on Literature and Hawai'i's Children and related activities.
• Promote interest in and appreciation of children's literature through community activities such as storytelling, educational workshops, presentations, and events for children.
• Encourage connections between the values and themes expressed in literature and various cultural traditions.
• Support the work of educators by sharing literature and related activities with children, parents, and interested adults.
• Foster in children a lifelong joy of reading, writing, and art.
• Work with other organizations to offer unique interpretations of literature through drama, song, dance, film, and exhibitions.
• Advocate for local children's writers and illustrators.

CLH's major activity is the Biennial Conference on Literature and Hawai'i's Children, which has been held in June on even-numbered years since 1982--at least until the 2020 Conference had to be pushed back to 2021. Each Conference brings a children's writer and a children's illustrator to Hawai'i to explore the world of children's literature with Hawai'i's population. Small-group sessions at the Conference with local writers, artists, librarians, and teachers (at primary, secondary, and university levels) add further dimensions to the program. Other Conference components often include panels of the featured writer and/or illustrator in public, military, and school-affiliated libraries on O'ahu; writing and illustrating contests for children' hands-on sessions for teachers; and workshops for teenagers on writing and illustration.

Honorary Chair: Lynne Waihee

President: Todd H. Sammons

Vice President: Mark Lawhorn

Secretary: Tamara Zielinski

Members at Large

Deloris Hill-Guttman

Suzanne Kosanke

Caryn Lesuma

Esha B. Neogy

Nikki Hamai Sakai

Christel Yount