The Cat on the Island
Gary CrewGillian Warden (Illustrator)

This is the true story of David and his father, who came to Stephens Island - a remote and pristine island off Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand in 1894. They brought their pregnant cat with them. The tiny Stephens Island wrens, being flightless, had no natural defences against the predators, and were wiped out in less than two years. The strikingly beautiful illustrations reinforce the tragedy of the obliteration of this tiny Eden, a timely metaphor for that other paradise known as Earth.