EASTER ISLAND

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Books

For Teachers

Among Stone Giants: The Life of Katherine Routledge and Her Remarkable Expedition to Easter Island by Jo Anne Van Tilburg. (Scribner, 2003)
This biography of the extraordinary Routledge, who helped lead an expedition to Easter Island in 1914, highlights her work and her life, marked by great success but also by mental illness. See also Routledge's book, The Mystery of Easter Island (Adventures Unlimited Press, 1998).

Easter Island by Michel Orliac. (Abrams, 1995)
Discoveries series. A lavishly illustrated guide to Easter Island and its mysterious history.

The Enigmas of Easter Island: Island on the Edge. 2nd ed. by Paul Bahn. (Oxford University Press, 2003)
A comprehensive, in-depth look at the island, its civilization, and recent discoveries about the giant statues and the birdman cult.

Splendid Isolation: Art of Easter Island by Eric Kjellgren. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001)
The catalog for a 2002 exhibit, this book explores the cultural heritage of Easter Island, including word carvings and rongorongo.

Vaka: Saga of a Polynesian Canoe by Thomas Davis. (Polynesian Press, 1992)
This novel is the saga of 300 years of Polynesian voyaging, told by a former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands.

Voyage of Rediscovery: A Cultural Odyssey Through Polynesia by Ben Finney. (University of California Press, 1994)
Tells of the story of a historic 1985 voyage from Hawaii to New Zealand that recreated the technology and navigation of ancient Polynesians.

For Students

Fiction

Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry. (Macmillan, 1940)
This Newbery award winner is considered a classic coming-of-age story. It tells the story of Mafatu, son of the great chief of Hikueru, who must confront his fear of the sea.

Hunter by Joy Cowley. (Philomel, 2004)
After a plane crash in a remote area of New Zealand, Jordan and her brother are guided by Hunter, a slave to Maori warriors, who lived there 200 years earlier. As the two worlds meet, Jordan realizes the connection she has to her ancestral past.

Maui and the Big Fish by Barbara Ker Wilson. (Frances Lincoln, 2003)
This creation legend tells how six of the South Pacific islands — now known as the large islands of Hawaii — came into being. For younger readers.

The Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty by William Bligh, adapted by Deborah Kestel. (ABDO Publishing Co., 2002)
Great Illustrated Classics series. An adaptation of the famous 1789 mutiny aboard the ship Bounty and how Captain Bligh and 18 of his men were set adrift in open boats in the South Pacific.

Myths of Oceania by Anita Dalal. (Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2002)
Ten myths from the South Pacific include creation myths, tales of the trickster Maui, and stories of the significance of Easter Island's carvings.

The Shark Callers by Eric Campbell. (Macmillan, 1993)
Two boys, one traveling around the world with his family and the other apprenticed to become a sacred Shark Caller in Papua New Guinea are caught in the eruption of the volcano Matupi and the subsequent tidal wave. Can they both survive?

The Stone Idol by Franklin W. Dixon. (Simon & Schuster, 1981)
Hardy Boys mysteries. Amateur detectives Frank and Joe Hardy try to track down a small Easter Island idol stolen from a South American antiquities dealer.

Nonfiction

Australia and the South Pacific by Fran Sammis. (Marshall Cavendish, 2000)
Mapping Our World series. Presents information about natural features of the South Pacific as well as crops, resources, culture, flora, fauna, population, languages, economics, transportation and more.

Easter Island, Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past by Caroline Arnold. (Houghton Mifflin, 2000)
Some of the mysteries of Easter Island still remain. Photographs and text explore what we know, including the true story of the Birdman competition.

The Easter Island Statues by Deborah Underwood. (Thomson Gale, 2005)
This book describes what we know about the giant stone statues, including how archeologists have uncovered answers to many questions.

Explorers of the South Pacific by Daniel E. Harmon. (Mason Crest, 2003)
Long before Captain Bligh sailed the Bounty in the South Pacific, Polynesians sailed the waters from Easter Island to New Zealand and north to Hawaii.

James Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific by Charles J. Shields. (Chelsea House, 2002)
Captain James Cook explored the land masses in the South Pacific and performed scientific experiments in Tahiti. He proved that New Zealand was an island, and claimed vast areas of Australia for Great Britain.

Mysteries of Lost Civilizations by Anne Millard. (Copper Beech Books, 1996)
Chapters explore mysteries such as lost cities, missing people, and mysterious objects, including the mysteries of Easter Island and its people.

Oceania by Charlotte Greig. (Mason Crest, 2003)
Cultures and Costumes: Symbols of Their Period series. Traditional ceremonial and everyday dress, (and the significance of each to the many countries and peoples of the South Pacific) are described.

Rediscovering Easter Island by Kathy Pelta. (Lerner Publications, 2001)
The effects of Europeans on the island are traced, beginning with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1722 to the present day. For older readers.

Southwest Pacific by Sharon Franklin, Rhonda Krafchin, and Cynthia A. Black. (Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2000)
The culture and history of four areas of the South Pacific are explored through the arts and crafts of their people. Step-by-step directions for four craft projects are included.

Web Sites

Easter Island
http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/Easter_Isld_Pge.html
Take a virtual tour of Easter Island, including beautiful photography of the moai.

Easter Island Home Page
http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/linklist.html
Information on Easter Island's history, culture, and tourism, including extensive Web links.

Kon-Tiki Web Server
http://www.museumsnett.no/kon-tiki/Research/Papers/walking_statue.html
Explore scholarly papers from Norway's Kon-Tiki Museum.

NOVA: Secrets of Easter Island
http://pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/
A team of archeologists and their crew try to figure out how hundreds of moai were moved, using only tools and materials available to ancient inhabitants of Easter Island.

Polynesian Voyaging Society
http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/welcome.html
This organization investigates how the Polynesian seafarers discovered and settled the islands of the Pacific.

Rapa Nui
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~ogden/piir/pacific/Rapanui.html
Explores the people, government, economy, history of Rapa Nui.