Wandi is the first book for young readers by award-winning Australian author, Favel Parrett. The young dingo lives happily in his mountain den with his mama and papa and brothers and sisters, kept safe, warm, dry and fed. His mama teaches him how to find tasty grubs in the ground; his papa warns against leaving the den, and against the tall animal that walks on two legs, that shoots and poisons dingoes: the Human.

But one terrible day, an eagle grabs him and flies him far, far away from his family and their den on the mountain. When he falls down to earth, he is found by a Human, but he is not shot or poisoned. This special dingo cub is lucky: he will be given sanctuary and cared for, and be given a name.

Parrett’s sweet tale of a real dingo cub is written with the intention of highlighting the endangered status of Australia’s only native canid, particularly the pure alpine dingo, and it’s a tale that tries to counter the stigma the dingo has acquired as a predator of stock, when their preferred diet includes introduced feral species and helps to keep the kangaroo population in balance.

With a charming cover and internal illustrations by Zoe Ingram, and easy-to-follow text, this little book is bound to appeal to readers young and not so young. A moving and informative read.