Wombats

Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

We seem to be going through a bit of an Aussie theme at the moment; but there's something just so darned cute about marsupials (wombats, koalas, even kangaroos), NZ wildlife is interesting, but you wouldn't call it cuddly.

But this one stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The rhyming text follows the adventures of six wombats as they go on an outing -- tracked by a hungry dingo "I've a hunch my lunch just walked on by". One by one, the friends get captured, until the last two wombats turn the tables on their foe. A predictable story line, with the last in line disappearing, but half the fun is waiting to see how the wombats will strike back.

Carol Diggory Shields rhyme and rhythm is natural, unforced and easy to read, with lots of Australian colloquialisms (walkabout, swagbag) to provoke interest and discussion - there's a helpful glossary at the front to assist with 'translation'. The downwards progression of wombats, from six to two, encourages children to count along with the story, and introduces the earliest concepts of subtraction.

Sophie Blackall's illustrations are delightful, with charming, chubby wombats, each with their own distinctive item of clothing, to help you identify them; and a sly and slinking dingo (smoking a pipe) to provide contrast. The pictorial influence of the Australian outback is very evident (though it is sketched in rather than realistic imagery) and provides great visual contrast to the dense and lush bush illustrations from New Zealand picture books.
Hiding the dingo on each page, offers children the chance to find the hunter, as the wombats numbers diminish. And, a lovely in-joke for parents, Jack's paper hat has a picture of the dingo - clearly a 'wanted poster' - on it.

This has been a stand-out success with big and small groups of children. It has plenty of extension concepts for the older kids, while the story and rhyme scheme work well for the younger crowd (2+); while the retribution visited on the dingo is popular with everyone.
It's very easy to read, and I've happily put it in the hands of people who aren't confident reading to big groups of children, and watched them succeed.

A real winner. I'll be looking out for other books by this duo.

It was surprisingly hard to come by in New Zealand, despite the publication information listing Penguin NZ as one of the publishers, they couldn't supply a copy to my favourite bookstore, so I had to buy it directly overseas (Amazon wins again)