Four English orphans - Cherry, Nigel, Brick and Nippy - migrate to Tasmania, to the care of their Aunt Jandie on her farm outside Hobart. Their arrival is greeted with enthusiasm by young farm boy Tas, and weeks of exploration and good times follow before Aunt Jandie goes to hospital, leaving the children in the care of Ma and Pa Pinner, her foreman and housekeeper.

A few days of tyrannical treatment by the Pinners forces the children to seek refuge in a secret cave, where they set up home to await the return of Jandie. Despite Pa's repeated efforts to recapture them, the children stay, fending for themselves in the bush, until Nigel's secret trip to town uncovers a plot by the Pinners to abandon the farm and swindle Aunt Jandie.

Nan Chauncy was born in England and emigrated to Tasmania with her family in 1912. She became one of Australia's most beloved authors, winning the CBCA Book of the Year three times and becoming the first Australian writer to win the Hans Christian Anderson Diploma of Merit. They Found a Cave was first published in 1949. It was made into a popular feature film in 1962, which won Best Children's Film at the Venice Film Festival. The Children's Book Council of Australia presents the Nan Chauncy Award to recognise an outstanding contribution to the field of children's literature in Australia. Nan Chauncy died in 1970.

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