2011 Ka Palapala Po'okela Awards:

Excellence in Children’s Hawaiian Culture

• Winner – Legend of the Gourd adapted and illus. by Caren Keʻala Loebel-Fried, Hawaiian translation by Kaliko Beamer-Trapp (Bishop Museum Press)
• Hon. Mention - Kohala Kuamoʻo: Naeʻole’s Race to Save a King by Kekauleleanaeʻole Kawaiʻaeʻa, illus. by Aaron Kawaiʻaeʻa, moʻolelo by Luana and Walter Kawaiʻaeʻa (Kamehameha Publishing)

Excellence in Children’s Illustrative/Photographic Books

• Winner – Legend of the Gourd adapted and illus. by Caren Keʻala Loebel-Fried, Hawaiian translation by Kaliko Beamer-Trapp (Bishop Museum Press)
• Hon. Mention - Plenty Saimin by Feng Feng Hutchins, illus. by Adriano F. Abatayo III (Island Paradise Publishing)

Excellence in Children’s Literature

• Winner - Plenty Saimin by Feng Feng Hutchins, illus. by Adriano F. Abatayo III (Island Paradise Publishing)
• Hon. Mention - Kohala Kuamoʻo: Naeʻole’s Race to Save a King by Kekauleleanaeʻole Kawaiʻaeʻa, illus. by Aaron Kawaiʻaeʻa, moʻolelo by Luana and Walter Kawaiʻaeʻa (Kamehameha Publishing)

Excellence in Hawaiian Culture

• Winner – Mai Paʻa i Ka Leo: Historical Voice in Hawaiian Primary Materials, Looking Forward and Listening Back by M. Puakea Nogelmeier (Bishop Museum Press)
• Hon. Mention - A Pocket Guide to the Battle of Nuʻuanu 1795: An Illustrated Pocket Guide to the Oʻahu Battlefield by Neil Bernard Dukas (Mutual Publishing)

Excellence in Literature

• Winner – Anshū: Dark Sorrow by Juliet S. Kono (Bamboo Ridge Press)
• Hon. Mention -Tweakerville: Life and Death in Hawaiʻi’s Ice World by Alexei Melnick (Mutual Publishing)

Excellence in Illustrative or Photographic Books

• Winner – Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art by Adrienne L. Kaeppler (Mark and Carolyn Blackburn)
• Hon. Mention - Akule photographs by Wayne Levin, essays by Thomas Farber and Frank Stewart (Editions Limited)

Excellence in Natural Science

• Winner - A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawaiʻi: The Main Islands and Offshore Waters by Jim Denny (University of Hawaiʻi Press)
• Hon. Mention – Hawaiian Birds of the Sea: Nā Manu Kai by Robert J. Shallenberger (University of Hawaiʻi Press)

Excellence in Text or Reference Books

• Winner - Ancient Sites of Oʻahu: A Guide to Hawaiian Archaeological Places of Interest, Revised Edition by Van James (Bishop Museum Press)
• Hon. Mention – Asian Supernatural by Alex Paman (Mutual Publishing)
• Hon. Mention – Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawaiʻi, Second Edition by David L. Callies (University of Hawaiʻi Press)

Excellence in Cookbooks

• Winner -The Blue Tomato: The Inspirations Behind the Cuisine of Alan Wong by Alan Wong with Arnold Hiura, photography by David Murphey, Yasuo Kondo and Alan Wong (Watermark Publishing)
• Hon. Mention – What Maui Likes to Eat by Chef Tylun Pang (Mutual Publishing)

Excellence in Special-Interest Books

• Winner – The Polynesian Tattoo Today by Tricia Allen (Mutual Publishing)
• Hon. Mention - Ancient Sites of Oʻahu: A Guide to Hawaiian Archaeological Places of Interest, Revised Edition by Van James (Bishop Museum Press)

Excellence in Nonfiction

• Winner – Mai Paʻa i Ka Leo: Historical Voice in Hawaiian Primary Materials, Looking Forward and Listening Back by M. Puakea Nogelmeier (Bishop Museum Press)
• Hon. Mention – The Value of Hawaiʻi: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future edited by Craig Howes and Jon Osorio (University of Hawaiʻi Press)

Excellence in Design

• Winner – Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art by Adrienne L. Kaeppler (Mark and Carolyn Blackburn)
• Hon. Mention -The Blue Tomato: The Inspirations Behind the Cuisine of Alan Wong by Alan Wong with Arnold Hiura, photography by David Murphey, Yasuo Kondo and Alan Wong (Watermark Publishing)

Excellence in “Aloha from beyond the Sea Samuel M. Kamakau”

• Winner – Gaff by Shan Correa (Peachtree Publishers)
• Hon. Mention – Captain Cooked: Hawaiian Mystery of Romance, Revenge and Recipes! by S.P. Grogan (Addison & Highsmith)

People’s Choice Award

• Winner – The Polynesian Tattoo Today by Tricia Allen (Mutual Publishing)

John Dominis Holt Award

• Winner – William Hamilton of University of Hawai’i Press

Samuel M. Kamakau Award for Hawai’i Book of the Year

There were three books that received the most votes:

• Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art by Adrienne L. Kaeppler (Mark and Carolyn Blackburn)
• The Blue Tomato: The Inspirations Behind the Cuisine of Alan Wong by Alan Wong with Arnold Hiura, photography by David Murphey, Yasuo Kondo and Alan Wong (Watermark Publishing)
• What Maui Likes to Eat by Chef Tylun Pang (Mutual Publishing)

but the Samuel M. Kamakau award for book of the year went to:

• Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art by Adrienne L. Kaeppler (Mark and Carolyn Blackburn)