"Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku" by Ellie Crowe, Illustrated by Richard Waldrep

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Bibliographic Citation

Title: Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku

Author: Ellie Crowe

Illustrator: Richard Waldrep

Year of Publication: 2007

Publisher City: New York

Publisher: Lee & Low Books Inc.

ISBN: 9781584302766

Author Website: http://www.elliecrowe.com/

Illustrator Website: No Illustrator Website

Media Used for Artwork: Color Pencil, Gouache

Awards

·         Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, Picture Book Winner, 2007-2008

·         Texas Bluebonnet Award, 2010-2011

·         Bank Street College Children’s Book Committee’s Children’s Books of the Year,

Annotation

A biography of Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing, during his early career as a member of the United States Olympic team for swimming and the many challenges he had to deal with, including racism and financial difficultly. 

Personal Reaction

                This book will be a draw to any older reader who enjoys surfing or swimming.  The biography of Duke Kahanamoku is done expertly in this picture book.  It is apparent that Crowe did a great deal of research to make sure that her facts were accurate about the life of the man who is the father of modern surfing. 

The picture book focuses mostly on his early career as a member of the Olympic swim team but besides stating the facts of his life, Crowe manages to bring up the racism that Kahanamoku had to endure in a subtle way so that it did not take over the entire story.  As a group, readers can discuss how issues of racism affected everyone in the past, even those who were famous.  This picture book can also be used with a group of other biographies of famous figures who succeeded despite the racial issues they had to endure.

Waldrep did an amazing job with the illustrations.  They are reminiscent of retro travel posters that were used in the era Kahanamoku lived.  The art deco style is very geometric, but the use of light colors used to represent Hawai’i softens the illustrations.   Some of the images even felt like postcards that anyone could send to family on their trip to Hawai’i.  One of my favorite images is one that occurs in the story where Kahanamoku introduced his style of surfing to Australians.  He holds a girl on top of his shoulders as they surf the waves.  Even though it is a still image, I can still feel the movement of the waves and the wind.

The style used in the illustrations is unique from other picture books I have seen.  Not only did Waldrep use a style of art that was popular in the era Kahanamoku was alive, it is also a style that is not seen often in current works.  But the beauty of the art deco style is wonderful and should not be forgotten.  This book is a good way to introduce it to readers.

Use of Onomatopoeia: To add to the tension of the story the author added onomatopoeia so that readers would feel they were at the race being described.

Example:

“BAM!  The pistol shot rang out.”

Use of Simile: One of the most adorable uses of a simile I have seen in a long time.  Comparing Kahanamoku to a tadpole when he first was taught to swim not only shows his age but also reminds the reader of the water.

Example:

“Wiggling like a little tadpole, Duke made his way back to the canoe.”