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Where wild animals and people meet, tragedy can strike, because just like the big bad wolf, the dingo is not afraid of you and me.

What happens when the truth gets lost?

Azaria: A True History is based on an event that happened 40 years ago when two-month old baby, Azaria Chamberlain was snatched by a wild dingo during a family camping trip at Uluru in the Northern Territory in 1980.

A dingo had never stolen a tiny baby before. Dingoes look like dogs and sometimes act like pets and many people believed it could not have happened. There were lots of different opinions, gossip and prejudice. Some of the information reported in the newspapers wasn’t accurate and today we would call it ‘fake news’. The mother fought hard for the truth, but she was sent to jail for life. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. One day Azaria’s missing jacket was found near a dingo’s lair. The mother had been telling the truth all along.

Azaria: A True History is a thought-provoking book for older readers. Written as a modern fairytale to explain a famous miscarriage of justice and a reminder of the importance of keeping an open mind; it also encourages us to reflect on our human impact on the wilderness and the wildlife that live there.

Maree Coote has used the rich colours of the Australian desert as the palette for her striking and evocative illustrations to tell Azaria’s story with care and compassion. It is a truly stunning book!

"The story of Azaria lives forever in the heart of the desert to remind us to look beyond the surface, for things are not always as they seem. Even the truth can seem to be lost sometimes…but, as we all know now, it’s just waiting to be found."

Happy reading!

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