da Shop: A Reader's Blog

We are unabashed fans of picture books so it’s little surprise that an opinion piece in The New York Times was quite a point of conversation amongst our staff.  The article, entitled “Your Kids Aren’t Too Ol...

Sara Ackerman is well-known for her compelling historical fiction novels about romance, friendship, and courage in WWII-era Hawai‘i. Her latest novel, Radar Girls, is based on the inspirational stories of t...

Let’s start at the end. With the abject terror of leaving something behind. The next thing is scary. There, I said it. But endings aren’t endings unless we let them be. Instead of inhabiting the fear that lu...

With summer upon us and the Olympics just around the corner, we've been diving into a fresh, new picture book about Maui's famous Three-Year Swim Club.  Sakamoto's Swim Club: How a Teacher Led an Unlikely Te...

We immediately fell in love with When Lola Visits as soon as it arrived in the bookstore!  This vibrant picture book lovingly depicts the relationship between a young Filipina, her lola, and the memories the...

Inhale. Exhale.  Mindfulness begins with the breath. We start here because it’s simple, accessible, and something we rarely consider closely.  But maybe it’s not that simple. Breathing itself is automatic. W...

I talk to a lot of people. More than most, probably. In my day job, I tell other people’s stories, the kind you may not have heard because there’s no spectacle and no recognition. It’s my favorite type of st...

Recently, a friend taught me the Japanese word wabi-sabi. He described it as the appreciation of imperfection through understanding that every moment is fleeting. This moment will come and pass and never hap...

In honor of National Poetry Month, join us for another da Shop Read Aloud with poet and spoken word artist, Richard Hamasaki.  Enjoy his amplified poetry and video of "Love Song for the Pristine Sea," featu...

Welcome to a poetry read aloud with da Shop! In honor of National Poetry Month, join poet and author Sue Cowing read a selection of poetry from her book My Dog Has Flies: Poetry for Hawaii's Kids (Beachhous...

This Sunday will mark 3 years since we opened da Shop: books + curiosities.  Amazingly, the third year took place during a global health pandemic yet we still managed to keep going. We are so grateful for y...

Lots of people think they’re not creative. While it’s true we can’t all be Lady Gaga, we can all create. I recently read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, in which historian and philosopher Yuval Noah H...