"The Golden Lehua Tree" album's cover art by Peggy Chun shows story elements - kolea (plovers) in golden and red lehua trees, Boki the Dalmatian in his favorite Chevy convertible, Imiola Church and Waimea pasture lands.

The dog's big brown eyes are a melting combination of desire to participate with the congregation, and guilt because he knows he's not supposed to be in church during services.

This mental image arises from an enchanting tale written and told by Aunty Winona Beamer on her first storytelling album, "The Golden Lehua Tree - Stories and Music from the Heart of Hawaii's Beamer Family" (Starscape Music, $15.98 CD, $10.98 cassette).

The 73-year-old kupuna is a kumu hula, matriarch of the Big Island's musical Beamer family, and retired Kamehameha Schools teacher.

Boki takes his first bow-wow simultaneously with 101 of his Hollywood cousins. The album premieres Thursday in island music stores while the real-animal version of "101 Dalmations" opens a week later on Thanksgiving eve. The album, like the film, is a perfect holiday indulgence for adults as well as children.

"We wanted to give children some of the beautiful messages we received when we were growing up," said Keola Beamer, Aunty Nona's son, who produced the album and provides its acoustical guitar stylings. "They're part of the wonderful uniqueness of what it is to be raised in Hawaii.

The album features seven stories plus chants and songs - memories of mist-wreathed mountains ("The Beauty of Mauna Kea"), fables of singing snails and good-hearted arbors ("The Promise of the Tree Snails" and "The Golden Lehua Tree"), folktales about haughty horses and hymn-howling hounds ("Boki"), and legends of blossoms, lovers and tidal waves ("Naupaka" and "Twin Sisters").

The title take is an ugly duckling story about a bare lehua tree whose fairy godmother turns out to be a band of menehune, or small people. Aunty Nona accompanies the tale with the hauntingly pure tones of her 'ohe hano ihu - Hawaiian nose flute.

Keola Beamer described the 14-by-2-inch flute his mom has used to accompany stories he first heard at age 2. "Its beautiful etherealness gets in your mind and, as you say, transports you - it's a remarkable instrument.

"We speak of wood in relation to fine wine; when it ages, there's a sweetness that comes over it. Some musicians, myself included, begin to believe that a guitar or nose flute becomes so melded into the life of an artist, player or performer that the instrument develops its own soul. It assumes some of the mana, or spiritual strength, of the artist, performer or storyteller," he explained.

Keola and his brother Kapono Beamer have collaborated on numerous award-winning albums. The inaugural storytelling venture of mother and son continues the oral tradition of Hawaiian culture.

"This thing is a star that came out of the darkness," Keola said of the project. "It's a special sort of light. It's different, it's unusual and, we think, very touching.

"It's part of the magic of what it is to experience Hawaii. When you live here and love it, you begin to notice the rhythm of the tradewinds and the waterfalls. When these stories come to light, you begin to paint your own pictures in your mind - it's the magic of the spoken word."