Caren Loebel-Fried
artist & author
Finding Home,
A Hawaiian Petrel's Journey
Written & Illustrated by
Caren Loebel-Fried
University of Hawaii Press 2024
120 pages | color and b&w illustrations
cloth $19.99
Finding Home, A Hawaiian Petrel's Journey
Published by University of Hawaii Press
Eleven-year-old Makani Kealoha Morton adores ‘ua‘u, Hawaiian petrels. She grew up marveling at the seabird’s magical evening sky-dance and murmurs from their underground burrows. Living over the ocean, gliding thousands of miles on the wind to wherever food was abundant, they returned yearly to their burrows in the Hawaiian Islands. Over thousands of years, their guano helped to make Hawaiʻi fertile and habitable for humans. Yet humans brought predators and environmental changes that caused ʻuaʻu numbers to plummet to near extinction.
Makani’s biologist mom and her team devise a plan to save the seabirds. Ten ʻuaʻu chicks are raised within a protected place. The chicks leave for the sea one by one—but Makani’s favorite is very late to fledge. Makani worries: Will this young petrel survive at sea? Will she return to the refuge to raise her own young? Will the plan to save the ‘ua‘u work? By the story’s end, Makani finds her own way to make a difference for the seabirds she loves so dearly.
Based on the true story of ʻuaʻu and the people working to save them, Finding Home, a Hawaiian Petrel’s Journey is filled with Caren Loebel-Fried’s colorful block prints, dynamic drawings, and maps. Following the story, a back section provides scientific facts on the habitat and lifestyle of ‘ua‘u and their connection to Hawaiian culture and history. The book’s middle-grade content includes place-based learning that incorporates natural science, wildlife conservation biology, literature, and art. Appealing to all ages, this hopeful, empowering story brings awareness to the threats humans have brought upon seabirds, and inspires us to find ways we can help them survive and thrive.
Hawaii Public Radio, The Conversation
"A new book about Hawaiian petrels is flying off the shelves. The illustrated chapter book is titled “Finding Home” and recounts the real-life stories of conservationists who work on the Hawaiian petrel, also called the ʻuaʻu.It features vibrant, hand-colored block prints, pencil drawings of seabird chicks in their burrows and adults sailing over the waves. HPR spoke with the book's author and illustrator, Caren Loebel-Fried, about the book and where her interest in Hawaiʻi's seabirds began."
Finding Hope: A Review of Caren Loebel-Fried’s Finding Home, a Hawaiian Petrel’s Journey
"Loebel-Fried’s prose is as elegant and acrobatic as the ‘ua‘u (Hawaiian Petrels) themselves. She often brings us to the perspective of a petrel, giving an intimate and exciting portrait of a bird. Makani’s story and the story of the petrels are intimately intertwined, and the sense that we humans live in an interconnected world pervades the book… The wealth of resources at the end of the story makes the book feel adult, a resource that kids can return to again and again, making it a valuable addition to any bookshelf… And where a lot of environmental stories can be hard to tell to kids, this tale of the Hawaiian Petrel is one of hope."
Hawai‘i Audubon Society’s Elepaio magazine review
“Finding Home is an engaging, educational, and visually stunning book that fosters awareness and appreciation for Hawai‘i’s native wildlife. Perfect for children who read or can be read to, educators, and families. It’s a must-read for those passionate about protecting Hawai‘i’s endangered species and the lands and oceans they rely on and help sustain.”