The Tale of the
Magic Wishing Fish
by Aukoa DeJesus & Kristen Gagnon                    Art by Maluhia Sanchez

Hawaiian Cat Tales
Book B (Ages 8 and Up)
Learning to Read with ALOHA

The Magic Wishing Fish
by Aukoa DeJesus & Kristen Gagnon
Art by Maluhia Sanchez
Edited by Julia Rowe
Curriculum by Kristen Gagnon
and Rex Dubiel Shanahan
Book Layout by Richard Farnham
Copyright © 2024 by Keiki Classroom.* All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Printing - December 2024
Publisher:
Customized Curriculum by Kristen
Kristen Gagnon
LearningIsFunInKona@Gmail.com
“This book is dedicated to Jen Hiro and Lee Nelson of Innovations Public Charter School, for bringing me to the Big Island to teach the keiki of Hawai`i.”
Kristen Gagnon
*Keiki Classroom is a Division of Creating Keiki Curriculum, 501(C)(3) Non-Profit

Kristen Gagnon
Educator, Publisher, and Editor
Kristen Gagnon was raised in central Florida. She started teaching high school math in Pompano Beach, Florida when she was 27, and instantly knew it would be her life’s work. Without teaching she is like a fish out of water.
Kristen earned her Master’s in Education in instructional design at Florida Atlantic University and continued to work on her Doctorate in
Curriculum and Instruction. She was honored with the opportunity to work on multi-million dollar grants to integrate science into reading
curriculums all over Florida and on the development of Geogebra, a free interactive math software used all over the world. Kristen taught college for 10 years and then returned to the classroom in Kailua Kona.
Presently, Kristen has an education consulting company where she and her team teach kids, one-on-one, as she develops a new curriculum. The Hawaiian Cat Tales book series was inspired by her students’ stories and has been a key link in a reading curriculum that has helped her students make leaps in their learning. She has loved working with the team of 28 students, and professionals collaborating on this book series.
She plans to design, publish, and teach curricula that her students need to learn in this evolving world. Kristen dedicates these books to her son, Goose, and daughter, Layla, who are the loves of her life.

Rex Dubiel Shanahan
Educator, Writer, and Editor.
For the past 37 years, Rex Dubiel Shanahan, an Army Brat, has taken her third graders at Sunset Beach Elementary, on the North Shore of Oahu, on a yearlong journey. “Around the World We Go” is an across the curriculum, continent by continent, experience. Each year all the Common Core Standards are woven into this learning adventure. Writing is an integral omponent of this exploit. Rex loves to write, and she also loves to edit her students’ work. As she says, “Every word in any piece of writing is a puzzle piece. Each piece is vital to the reader’s ability to visualize the writer’s intention.
Rex also has a literacy blog: rexthesurfdog.com. Her dog, Rex, was born in 2007. He travels the world with her making new friends and discovering exciting places. Then he writes about his experiences on his blog. National Geographic and the NEA national teachers’ magazine, as well as newspapers across the country, have written articles about Rex the Surf Dog. Rex and Rex visit libraries during the summers and introduce children to the world of quality literature and global travel. Sometimes, they are interviewed on TV.
For 15 years, Rex has worked for Jack and Kim Johnson’s Kokua Hawaii Foundation as the Garden Club Advisor at Sunset Beach Elementary. Lastly, Rex has served part-time in the Hawaii State Legislature as the Liaison from Sunset Beach to Rep. Michael Magaoay, District 47. Rex is happily married to her high school heart throb, Ed Shanahan.

Aukoa DeJesus - Author
Aukoa DeJesus was a kind 11-year-old when he wrote this book. In Hawaiian, Aukoa means “Strong Warrior.” Aukoa enjoys football, playing video games, and hanging out with his friends. He wrote two books in this series, Book B and Book T.  From writing, he learned about being creative and using his imagination.
Aukoa enjoyed thinking about the ideas for the stories. When in Alaska for a family vacation, he discovered that he loved fishing and being on the water, and he wanted to share his love of the ocean with the kids who read his stories. Once, when fishing in Alaska, he wished he could catch a really big fish. That wish is what gave him the idea of the “Wishing Fish” in Book B.
Aukoa and his family just moved from the Big Island to Utah. His advice to anyone moving is to give it some time. “As you see and do new things, you will begin to belong.”

Julia Rowe - Editor
Julia was a senior in high school with five years of writing and editing experience when she edited this book. She is a team member and leader in project management, focusing on several different angles to find new perspectives for the best project outcome. Currently living in Califiornia, she is experienced in writing, creating/finishing documents, proofreading, typing, and fast typing dictation.
She has authored several articles including articles published in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, and The Homeschool Compass.

Maluhia Sanchez - Illustrator
Malu Sanchez is an artist who was 13-years-old when illustrating this book. She lives in Hawai’i. Her favorite mediums to work with are watercolor and pencil. She is learning a new computer software for these pictures called kleki.com. This year she sold a drawing of the northern lights to her sister’s employer, making a sale for the first time! Some interesting pieces of artwork that she does are decorating pig skulls. Her family in Honoka’a are boar hunters and she has painted the skulls of the animals that her dad and sister killed for food. Being hunters of honor, they use all of the parts of the animal out of respect.
Malu also enjoys gardening, playing her cello, and of course drawing. Malu lives with her sister’s tortoise cat, Thistle. There is a legend that the tortoiseshell cat brings wealth to the owner.
She was inspired to do the illustrations for these books and hopes Thistle brings her abundance too. Because she knows how much her friends love cats, Malu wanted to be the illustrator for the Hawaiian Cat Tales series. She also knew she would get better at illustrating while working on these pictures. Malu can’t wait to show her friends the pictures of these cat characters. She was brought closer to her grandpa during this project. When she was reading Book B she talked about the story with her grandpa and he smiled because he shared his
stories of reminiscing about surfing.
By doing this project, Malu hopes that people will see that art has value.