Acknowledgements

Thank you to my family and friends for your continued support and enthusiasm for my stories, and to the wonderful readers who inspire me to keep writing. Thanks to my fellow adventurer, Ann Harth, for being brave enough to show me cassowary country, and to Marci Dahlenburg for your unfailing encouragement and wise advice.

I am also grateful to the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust (MGCLT) for entrusting me with a wonderful Creative Time Fellowship, and to all the members of the MGCLT support team, for your care and attention. Thanks also to Fran Knight for, among other things, introducing me to the cassowary at Adelaide Zoo.

For technical matters, I thank Peter Rowles, from the Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation (C4) at Mission Beach. And finally, a huge thank you to the remarkable team at UQP, in particular Kristy Bushnell, the most patient and talented editor alive, cover designer and illustrator Jo Hunt, proofreader Katie Evans, and my publisher Kristina Schulz for your support and friendship.