"The Surprising Things Maui Did" takes a common folktale in Hawaiian literature and broadens it into a larger, more intricate story. It also shows Maui in a different light by calling him lazy. In most of the folktales including Maui, he is presented as perfect in the eyes of his fellow islanders. He is God-like, complete with special powers, and can do no wrong. Everyone loves him. In this rendition, however, Maui's brothers get irriated at his laziness. He is known throughout the island for this trait. It is interesting to look at the protagonist of the story as lazy because it gives him a more relateable qualities than in other folktales. Maui, however, doesn't work the same way as his fellow islanders. When his brothers yell at him to work, he uses his powers to change the world. For example, he ropes the sun so that there is more sunlight to the day. Instead of fishing for fish, he "fishes" for an island and forms another land mass when his island became too crowded. In this way, Maui helps the world.

This book is long and wordy. If done as an IRA, it might need to be split into two days focusing on different things. Because of engaging pictures, I feel like it would a better book to have in the classroom as a different view of Maui and the legends that include him, not necessarily used as a read-aloud book.