Pau: The Last Song of the Kaua’i ‘o’o

A moving ecological fable and a lyrical love song to a lost species from the cocreators of One Tiny Treefrog: A Countdown to Survival

Millions of years ago, the island of Kaua‘i began to bloom with life, color, and sound. In time, the ‘o‘o bird added its song to the island chorus. Then a new species arrived: people. The impact of more and more humans meant fewer and fewer Kaua‘i ‘o‘o. When scientists realized these unique birds were disappearing from the island, they deepened their efforts to observe them, including by recording their song. In time, only a single Kaua‘i ‘o‘o was singing, and inevitably, a day came when there were none: pau. Complete with clear back matter, this gentle and poetic portrait of a species that evolved over thousands of years, declined, and became extinct only a few decades ago touches lightly on key conservation topics like invasive species and island ecology. Illustrations drenched in tropical color will light up the imaginations of young naturalists and fuel their instinct to understand, protect, and defend our planet’s biodiversity.An elegy for a songbird native to the island of Kaua‘i—once common, now vanished. . . . A terse, poignant, richly illustrated, all-too-common story.
—Kirkus Reviews

A haunting introduction to both a beautiful little bird and the concept of human-induced extinction. . . . A remarkably moving meditation on extinction and an impassioned call for conservation.
—Booklist

Although it tackles a tough topic, Pau: The Last Song of the Kaua‘i ‘O‘O depicts well the things that can drive extinction—introduced species, habitat loss, natural disasters—and how species loss is often the result of a series of unfortunate events piling up over time until it’s too late.
—Hakai MagazineMackenzie Joy is the cocreator, with Tony Piedra, of One Tiny Treefrog: A Countdown to Survival. As an artist, she loves to scribble and paint on nontraditional canvases. As a writer, she enjoys finding the perfect rhythms, sounds, and words. As a storyteller, she wants to share stories that are quirky, hopeful, and thought-provoking. Mackenzie Joy lives in Northern California.

Tony Piedra is the author-illustrator of The Greatest Adventure and, with Mackenzie Joy, cocreator of One Tiny Treefrog: A Countdown to Survival. He grew up in Houston, Texas, chasing lizards in the backyard and capturing great adventures in his sketchbook. Eventually, he relocated to California, where he worked for many years at Pixar Animation Studios, building environments for some of the studio’s most popular movies, including Up and Coco. He now lives in Northern California.