Wombats Books

I first saw this book at an open house. It was part of the staging for the unit but once I saw the book, I stopped looking around the property and had to read it. I was all smiles from the first page.

This book is great for both children and adults. The text and the illustrations are of equal quality (excellent) and make me laugh every time I read the book. It is obvious that the author has spent a lot of time with wombats and has observed their behavior with humor. The words and pictures capture the quirkiness and cuteness of wombats perfectly. Another thing I liked about this book was that the text is shown as if the wombat was scribbling in his diary (same look as how the title is written). I keep this book displayed on the shelf at all times in my room so whenever I look in that direction there is something to brighten my day. If you like animals, you will love this book.

We just discovered this book at the library, and our six year old son thought it was great. He's had us read it with him over and over. We might have to buy our own copy.

What a sweet book! The illustrations are wonderful. I just wanted to read the book over and over again!

I bought this book after reading it at the library. The illustrations are fantastic and the the first-person narration is too cute! I'm sure it will be one of my son's favorites!

We read dozens and dozens of childrens' books featuring local flora and fauna during our trip to New Zealand and Australia and this one was by far the most engaging and delightful. We didn't buy it in the first store where we saw it and then spent the ensuing several weeks quoting it at every available occasion. We even started demanding carrots for both good and bad behavior.

One thing we loved is the link between the narration and the drawings -- they complement each other in clever and wonderful ways. On one page the wombat discovers a new scratching post and only in studying the drawing do you see that he has dislodged a can of paint. At the end of the book many of his targets (from clean laundry to a pair of boots) are visible in one truly great image.

Another great thing is how well the book gets across how wombats really act without ever stating any boring facts. The humorous text and graphics simply show a wombat doing what wombats do -- it's a great purchase as a souvenir because it can introduce a child to this funny animal.

Strongly recommended.

This wonderful rhyming book is a favorite of my 2- and 3-year-olds. The meticulous illustrations encourage discovery and attention to detail. You notice the wombat, of course, but you also notice the reaction of other characters to the wombat. You also discover many animals that are indigenous to Australia, showing the diversity in nature.

The charming story leads the little wombat home to his mother, where he curls up and goes to sleep. It's a comfortable story of independent play and the importance of home and family.

I work in daycare with children mostly between the ages of 18 months and 3 years, and they just LOVE this book! They call it "the boom book" because when the wombat jumps to make noise when he falls down, we always say "BOOM!" all together. They also love the page with all the funny faces, and we have to take 10 minutes to make all the faces together. A must have!

Mom, dad, and 18 month old toddler all fell instantaneously in LOVE with this book. The illustrations are extremely cute and the text is funny. Would probably work for babies and older toddlers too as there is not too much text and it has a nice rhythm.

Its hard to find a book that makes me laugh as much as my toddler, but this is one! I instantly fell in love with it. It has great lines, and beautiful illustrations. Best of all is the ending. You will love this book, too.

My 9 month old son wants to read this book over and over! And the illustrations are so beautifully done and interesting that I don't mind~ It's a must for any child library!

We have been reading good night moon to our daughter since she was born till about 11 months. Our baby sitter gave us this book as a gift and our daughter loves it. For a few weeks we gave her the choice of which book she wanted us to read at night and every time she picked the wombat book.

Enough said. She giggles whenever we read it.

We received this book as a gift from family in Australia. From the first reading our son (16 months) LOVES this book. The little wombat goes through small little adventures explaining why he likes to certain things, like jumping as he can "to see how much noise he can make when he lands." Our son's favorite part is when little wombat sticks out his tongue and makes funny faces, he then also pokes out his tongue (very cute!) The book is brightly illustrated with easily recognizable Australian animals and supported with short uncomplicated text, which is the perfect length for our impatient listener ;). We believe that this book is a MUST HAVE for all little libraries

This is quite a wonderful book for little ones. My grandchild just LOVES it - it's one of her favorite stories.

You should read "Sometimes I like to curl up in a ball." It's so funny. It's about a cute little wombat and his feelings. The pictures are really amazing. I think your kids would like it. I think you should read it anytime you get the chance! I am 7 years old and I really like this book for bedtime. It helps me get to sleep. Take my advice and buy this book!

I got this book for my son 2 years ago and since then this book is read every night before bed. My son LOVES the part with the silly faces and the mud the character plays with. I often buy this book for friends when they have a child and it is a quick favorite for everyone I have given it to.

Mem Fox has done it again! Fox uses the special animals of Australia to illustrate that eachof us has a special place in life that we're each suited for. Love the illustration and the possitive way the animals handled finding that special place for Wombat. It was a favorite of ours this last Christmas, but we also keep it out year round and visitors to our home love reading it.

This Australian story about a young wombat wanting the lead in the school Christmas play, tugs at the heart strings of those who don't always get what they want. In the end the young wombat learns that all the parts in the Christmas play are important and together the actors create a wonderful experience for all in their animal rendition of the Christmas Story. Beautiful illustrations.

Although not the best of Mem Fox's work Wombat Divine is a very good story about an enthusiastic main character who doesn't quite have the ability to be initially succeed where he wants but has his dream come through in the end. A wombat has always dreamed of being in a nativity play but each character he tries out for, he finds out he is unsuited for.

The great story though is let down by very average illustrations by Kerry Argent, which is a shame as those who have read the wombat tale Sebastian Lives in a Hat know she can do a very good job when she puts in the effort and can draw very realistic looking wombats. None of the Australian animals in Wombat Devine actually resemble the Australian wildlife they are supposed to be. Wombat looks like a bear, the emu for some reason has wings that can come out of the front of its body like arms which emus in real life no doubt wish for but don't have, the echidna is just the platypus with a lot of yellow triangles coming out of its body, the bilby looks like a rabbit (no wonder Mem Fox dumped this illustrator and went with Pamela Lofts for the sensational Hunwick's Egg where the bilby actually looks like a bilby.

See my review for Time for Bed. This is another book from Mem Fox and an animal from Australia.

Wombat Divine is an Australian Classic and in my opinion one of Mem Fox's best. My family now own hundreds of childrens' picture books, but this was the first one I ever bought my son. It still remains a firm favourite with us. The illustrations are delightful, as is the story. It's a must have for the Christmas book collection - something a little different and makes a great gift. You can't help but fall in love with Wombat.

Wombat Stew is in print, just click on the separate product page link Wombat Stew for the 21st Anniversary (2005) edition. For some bizarre reason Amazon lists these re-released books as separate products but they are one and the same. At the time of this review they did have stock but if they too are now sold out rest assured Australian publishers like to celebrate anniversaries and constantly re-release children's picture books so no doubt there will be a 25th edition released in 2009 and probably a 30th in 2014 as well. Since Amazon is a bit slow on their product updates you may need to search Amazon (or even Australian merchant websites) for these books in the years ahead.

Originally published in Australia in 1984 this book has more than stood the test of time bringing joy to children throughout time. A basic but good storyline combined with great illustrations means this is going to be a constant request by children to be read to them again and again and again. This book is an excellent book to teach children about the different types of creatures in Australia. Although the book doesn't give information on them the drawings are so well done you can expand from the storyline to point out the platypus' duck like bill, echidna's spines and other fairly unique adaptations particular Australian animals have.

Just in case you're wondering the basic plot of wombat stew is a dingo catches a wombat and boasts to everyone (all types of Australian animals) that he is going to shortly be enjoying gooey, brewy, yummy, chewy, wombat stew. These other animals are friends with the wombat and have a cunning plan to save their friend by giving suggestions of other ingredients to add to the stew. For those parents who now how to play or whose kids are learning a musical instrument the final page has the music score to the Dingo's song so the notes can be followed and played by instruments of some kids and sung along by others.

The constant lack of availability and selling out of Wombat Stew is a good lesson to keep good children's books even when your kids have moved on to older reading level books. In the future if you have more kids, friends have kids, you have grandkids etc they will all be very grateful when you come to visit with this classic. For those who don't yet have a copy rest assured though, there will always be anniversary editions of great Australian classics such as this.

Other great Australian wildlife fiction classics for kids by other authors you should check out are Possum Magic, Olga the Brolga and Edward the Emu.

My 9 year old and I love Wombat Stew! I am "reading mom" to several classes at my son's elementary school and without exception, the classes with whom I have shared this book also adore it. It's simple enough for the younger set, but so much fun that the older kids aren't embarrassed to get caught up in the rollicking, rhyming enchantment. The illustrations are simply fabulous and the cast of delightful, eccentric Aussie animals can't be beat. Even though we live in Florida, my son has been fascinated with all things Australian since he was a toddler-at 4 he loved announcing to everyone who would listen that echidnas and platypuses were monotremes and then giggled with delight when the response was "mono whats?". We have been fortunate enough to also find a very rare copy of the Wombat Stew Cookbook, which should definately be added to your library should you ever come across it. We haven't actually made any of the recipes yet, but if you don't have any trouble with converting ingredients from metric they sound like fun! Our sincere thanks to authors like Marcia Vaughan and Mem Fox as well as illustrators like Pamela Lofts for the lovely journeys of imagination they have provided for those of us who can't make the trip to Australia in person.

This wonderful classic has just been re-released in Australia for a short time - special limited edition 21st Anniversary by Scholastic (August, 2005).

I love this silly book! It's Eewie Gooey Yummie Chewy! I just wish I could have a copy of my own....:(

You don't have to put on a goofy Australian accent to read this story in which a platypus and his animal friends outwit Dingo and save a hapless wombat from the bubbling billycan... but your kids will laugh even harder if you do!

We read this first when my son was 18 months old; ten years later, it still finds its way out of the bookshelf once in a while. How can such a classic be out of print?

This is a very enjoyable book. The main character, Kylie, is charming, cute and funny and being that she just moved to the U.S. from Australia, she has a lot to learn about how things work, which leads to moments of hilarity. I especially enjoyed Julia Roberts, the cat. She is Kylie's companion in the book and is just as much of a character as everyone else. The people that surround Kylie are entertaining in their own way and well developed. The love story just begins to develop near the end of the novel and I can only imagine it's going to steam up in the rest of the series. I am anxiously awaiting to read the rest of them and absolutely recommend this one. I immediately liked the main character, I laughed a lot and I like Claire McNab's writing style.

Claire finally got it in this one. As one of her frequent readers I really enjoyed the latest of her novels. Here she combined action with character and love interest. The love interest should be still more developed since it came too late in this novel (last page), but at least Claire McNab has touched that topic in her latest novel and did not leave it out like in all the Carol Ashton or Denise Cleever novels. Way to go Claire, that looks like a good mix. Continue!

"The Womabat Strategy" is the first Kylie Kendall mystery by Claire McNab. I had never read any of Ms. McNab's other novels, so this novel was a treat for me. Kylie Kendall from Australia has inherited from her father 51% of his detective agency in Los Angeles, California. Her partner, Ariana Creeling wants to buy Kylie out, but Kylie intends to stay in LA and become a private eye. Kylie is gay and is very attracted to Ariana but is not sure of Ariana's orientation. The agency gets a major case when Dr. Dave Deer, a shrink to the stars, hires them to investigate the theft of patient records of 2 Hollywood personalities. After the thefts one of the patients, producer Jarrod Perkins, is found dead of an apparent suicide, but Kylie feels that he has been murdered. Kylie helps crack the case, but her life may be in danger when she is confronted by the killer. This mystery is very original and there are many comic moments as Kylie adapts to America. This fine mystery novel is highly recommended.

What a Hoot!

I loved the Los Angeles locales. The Humor made this novel work.

A fun story, absolutely perfect to bring to the beach. 28 year old Kylie is a unique character.

If you liked this book you will want to look for the other books in the series -

Kookaburra Gambit
Dingo Dilemma
The Quokka Question

I enjoyed this book a lot. I thought it was fun and exciting.

Elizabeth Honey is the author of Don't Pat the Wombat has a great idea for a book. She writes about a kid named Mark and his friends are going to camp with their teachers! One of their teachers nicknamed the Boom, because he hates all kids and tries to drown a kid named Journa! Mark and his friends have to save Jouna from the Boom. This book is funny and exciting. That's why you should read this book.

I am sixteen years old and Australian. Don't Pat The Wombat was my favourite book when I was ten, and I recently reread it. I'd forgotton how funny and accurate it was.

First, some background information about the setting. Despite what it may appear, the kids are not going to summer camp. They are going to school camp. The difference is, it happens during school time, and not during summer. The summer holidays happen over Christmas, and they only last for six weeks, so no summer camp. Edwina and Helmut are not counsellors. They are backpackers how happened to be in the area. Also, the slang is fairly accurate, if I recall primary school correctly.

Don't Pat The Wombat is about a group of boys in year six, who have called themselves the Coconuts. They're the troublemakers of their class. A few weeks before camp, they become friends with a new kid named Jonah, who is from a rural area. Jonah makes enemies with Brian Cromwell, a cruel teacher that the Coconuts have nicknamed the Bomb, because he explodes. They go to camp in the bush, and have fun. Most of the book is taken up with the description of the fun, but towards the end it develops a more serious theme. Jonah starts opening up slightly, and has an encounter with the Bomb.

The book has a very light hearted tone, which is why I think I loved it so much. You could count the serious bits on the fingers of one hand. The characters are believable twelve-year-olds, and act in a believable way. I was never one of the troublemakers myself, but I remember school camp, before popularity became everything and kids still listened to the teachers. And the lollies, who could forget the lollies?

Elizebeth Honey has written a few other novels, of which the Stella Streets are the closest in tone to this one. I'd recomend those as well.

It's no secret that there are thousands of fantastic unknown children's books out there. I would even go so far as to estimate that over 60% of the best kid books disappear without so much as a ripple under the waves of subsequently published literature. So this is all the more reason to appreciate a well-written unknown book when you find it. That book, such as it is, is Elizabeth Honey's "Don't Pat the Wombat". A fine frolicsome Aussie import, this tale of kids, camp, and canoes is one of the best kept secrets in fiction today. And it's freakin' hilarious.

The plot follows a group of roughly ten year-old boys called The Coconuts. They named themselves that after the narrator(nickname: Exclamation Mark)'s mom drove them around singing, "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts..." The other boys include Wormz, Nicko, Azza, Mitch, and Jonah. Jonah, to be honest, is the real hero of this tale. A calm silent boy, Jonah earns the wrath of the school's most dreaded teacher, The Bomb. When the boys head out for summer camp (an event that included not only the boys but their teachers from school and two parents) it's just their bad luck that The Bomb comes along for the ride.

First of all, this book is undoubtedly one of the funniest I've read in a very long time. Funny books never get any respect, you know. Not adult funny books, nor children's funny books. This is a story where the narrator's mom plays on a basketball team called The Cellulites. The pictures, supposedly drawn by the author, are a hoot and a holler (and frighteningly similar to pictures an actual ten year-old would draw). And the storyline has the boys pulling the kind of innocent pranks you'd expect of them. I was particularly taken with a moment where the boys (after a rousing mud fight) decided to play dead to see what their German counselor Helmut would do:

"Oh, they're dead!" goes Helmut. "What a pity, I'd better bury them," and he started shoveling mud on us.

It's that kind of story. On top of that, there's some interesting Australian language to grapple with. America is the kind of country that takes great pains in changing words in the Harry Potter books that appear "too British" for delicate American children's ears. Apparently, Australian slang is a completely different matter. Initially I was quite taken aback by the amount of words I either couldn't understand or couldn't pronounce. Here's a great example. It describes the teacher nicknamed Chook:

"If something goes right, she says, `Jolly beaut!' and if something goes wrong, she goes, `Blinking heck!' For something amazing, she says, `By jingo!' She wears Daisy Duck shoes".

The book's full of this kind of thing. When a boy calls his teacher a nerd his mother patiently corrects him and says the terms he's looking for is "duffer". Slang includes words like "derr" as well. I mean, I think it's great! More books should be coming into our country with these kinds of words. But if you're not prepared for them, it's a bit of a shock.

If I have any objections with this book it's that it's too darn short. Too short by far. You finally are beginning to get a little more insight into the characters and before you know it, time's up! Story's done. All in all, however, I consider this book one of the lost greats. It'd make a fantastic read-aloud to those students that are reluctant to read. The characters are likable, the plot is quick, and the photos and pictures very funny. For a sure fire crowd pleaser (if they can get past the slang) give this book a try. The funniest Australian children's book I have ever, or may ever, read.

Remember summer camp in all it's wonderful, horrible glory? Elizabeth Honey does and she brings the memories back to life with this outrageous and funny tale about a group of Aussie sixth grade boys (known as the Coconuts and later, the Convicts) off to camp.

Narrated by Mark (or "Exclamation Mark"), he gives us the tell-all tales about his friends and their antics. They befriend newcomer Jonah, who takes on the Convict's ultimate nemesis, teacher Mr. Cromwell, a.k.a. the Bomb. ("Cromwell at camp is like Darth Vader at your birthday party.")

This a frenetic and fun book, documenting the misadventures of outback camplife (complete with mud fights, exploring, an end-of-camp pageant and of course, wombats!

Definately worth a read!

Mr. Cuppy was a terrific oberserver of humanity. Despite his rather unique living conditions and his curmudgeon like existence, his "take" on "us humans" is spot on.
My only regret is that he didn't pen more books and essays for us to enjoy again and again.
If you enjoy his work, pick up Max Schulman as well. He is another great humorist from the "golden age".
Too bad we don't see more of these types.
We can keep them alive!
Share these tomes with all your friends and enemies!

Will Cuppy has written a very strange, very funny little volume that covers a lot of territory. Ostensibly, it is mainly devoted to an overview of animal characteristics, and includes a great deal of odd and relatively unknown facts on a myriad of animals (my undergraduate degree is in Biology, and I learned many peculiar things from this book).

The amazing thing about the book for me is the literate weaving of a coherent book which includes not only an explanation of the head-foot and lifestyles of lower mollusks, but a tracing of literary references of mollusks through history, from the ancient Greeks to Wordsworth (really). That kind of surreal juxtaposition runs throughout the book, and is perfectly delightful. The net result is a book that it genuinely educational, and simultaneously hilarious.

Cuppy has a wonderful way with words, indeed he has a rich vocabulary and elegant writing style that is mostly forgotten in contemporary writers. I wish this book was compulsory reading in all high schools (take your pick in English or Biology class) to expose students to the concept that a book, even with a sometimes strange or mundane subject, can be utterly fascinating when told well.

My only minor critique of the book is the relative abundance of footnotes, which is sometimes a bit distracting. If you want a good laugh, or you just love animals this book is a good choice. It turns out that wombats are pretty interesting, believe it or not!

I put Terry Pratchett's name in the title, as well as here in the first paragraph, so that those looking for certain keywords will come across this. I read Will Cuppy before I ever discovered Discworld (in fact, I read Will Cuppy's stuff before most of Discworld was ever written!) but though Cuppy's stuff is over half a century old, and non-fiction, it is nonetheless a natural fit for the sense of humor that appreciates Terry Pratchett.

Will Cuppy was the master of the irrelevant footnote, the tangential digression, and the stern admonition to the reader. What makes it even funnier is that every word is true, or at least as much of the truth as was known in the 1930's and thereabouts. His specialty is zoology, which is what most of this book contains, but he also is very funny about history.

Now, you don't have to read the Discworld novels to appreciate Cuppy, and so if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then never fear. You probably do need a bit of education, however; high school biology and Western history should be floating around in bits in the back of your brain. At the time he wrote these -essays?- Cuppy was writing mainly for The New Yorker magazine, and he assumed that his audience was somewhat elite, college-educated and highly literate. (However, he's not nearly as elitist, or as dead-white-male-centric, as, say, Hans Zinsser, whose "Rats, Lice and History" is also funny, but has some issues of racism and what some feel is anti-Semitism; Zinsser assumed his audience was educated at the sort of university where everyone was white, male, and required to study Greek and Latin and probably also knew French. Although Zinsser would also be a fun read for many, these issues make it a lot harder to recommend than Cuppy. However, if you've read this far in the review, and you want more words to read, more, more, more!, then you could consider "RL&H" as well.)

Anyway, there's a double message in this review: if you enjoy Terry Pratchett, then you really need to read Will Cuppy to find where Pratchett got his style from, and if you enjoy Will Cuppy but have never tried Terry Pratchett because you don't read science fiction or fantasy, then give Pratchett a try anyway, because he writes like Will Cuppy. And if none of that made any sense, but you like animals, zoology, and/or Gerald Durrell, then Cuppy may also be your cup of tea. Especially if you like wombats.

I thumbed through this book when I was about 15 , mostly because I had never heard of a wombat before. I enjoyed it so much that I read the whole book and I've read it a dozen times since. Will Cuppy had the uncanny ability to mix wit with fact when writing his pieces on various members of the animal kingdom, anthropomorphizing them for humorous absurdity which tendered the desired effect from this reader. The highlight of this book was his article on how to swat a fly, a skill which we could all use pointers on. His vocabulary is impeccable but somewhat dated. Younger people might not be able to decipher or appreciate his wit. I feel that if the educational system studied Cuppy's methods of writing and utilized it in their curriculum, students would be far more enthusiastic about learning than they are now. I would recommend this to anyone who likes animals, comedy, or anyone who wants to know just what the heck a wombat is and how you'd go about attracting one.

One Woolly Wombat certainly has no complicated storyline or even a basic one for that matter. Similar in style to say the 12 days of Christmas song but in numerical order the reader visits one woolly wombat sunning by the sea along with increasing numbers of other Australian wildlife with every even numbered group doing something that rhymes with the activity the odd number before it was doing.

The friends the reader will meet to help them count along with a wombat are, koalas, magpies, kangaroos, platypuses, possums, emus, echidnas. goannas, kookaburras, dingos, cockatoos, hopping mice and seals. Illustrations of these animals (with the exception of the wombat) are very realistic looking as well.

If more of an actual story you were after other great Australian wildlife fiction picture book classics that kids all over the world will love are out there. The best are Possum Magic and Hunwick's Egg by Mem Fox. Sebastian Lives in a Hat by Thelma Catterwell, Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan, the entire Steve Parish story book collection by Rebecca Johnson such as The Cranky Crocodile are also great reads. Olga the Brolga and Edward the Emu although not the best stories have some greatest drawn colourful illustrations of Australian wildlife you will ever see.

This book has been a favourite of my cousins. It is witty, colourful and incorporates Australian animals, which children always love. Lots of pictures, and easily read or sung.

one woolly wombat sunning by the sea two cuddly koalas sipping gumnut tea

and so on to fourteen A now-classic Australian counting book, featuring native animals and other features of the Australian landscape and lifestyle (bush, lamingtons, and some flora)

A good choice for a counting book (also going beyond the traditional 10) for Aussie and non-Aussie kids alike.

Learning to count has never been this fun (or colorful!) My niece couldn't stop talking about wombats and magpies and koalas. The illustrations are vibrant, sometimes silly. You just can't go wrong with nine hungry goannas (look like alligators) in aprons and chefs hats.

Sebastian lives in a hat is well written but the story is really told and reaches a higher level through the detailed realistically sketched illustrations. It is a classic great book (written in 1985) to teach children of the important role that wildlife carers do (although it does portray the experience to be a bit simpler and easier than it is in reality, but this is a kids book after all). What makes this story work so well is that Sebastian is an actual normal wombat and not one taking on human child traits, other than on the last page where grown up he's wearing a hat he is portrayed as an orphaned animal would be. The imagery throughout is child friendly when it needs to be such as the mother killed by a car is not squashed with blood and guts hanging out of her like would obviously be the case in real life but the majority is very realistic looking.

Sebastian Lives in a Hat is the tale of a wombat whose mother was hit by a car (an important lesson to teach children who can remind their parents when driving at night to look out for wildlife), and how he is nursed into an adult wombat. The book maybe could have said what happened to Sebastian in adult life, especially since it was a true story, but then again we don't know what really happened, it might unfortunately not be the positive ending children would be looking for so maybe we are better of making our own suggestions such as he went to a wildlife park to educate school children.

This book would be an excellent motivation for a teacher or someone to use for a class of children to do a small fundraiser for injured wildlife organisations such as Wildcare in Australia, wildlife animal hospitals or to donate towards research and breeding programs for the endangered northern hairy nosed wombat. All over the world there are similar carers and causes, a good book to motivate others.

Another good educational children's picture book that portrays animals such as they actually are and not as human type characters is Python by Pauline Reilly.

My mother used to read this book to me when I was a child and it was one of my favourites (I also loved Koala Lou and Samantha Seagulls Sandals). I think the editorial on this book is way too harsh and neglects the consideration that books geared towards the very young are usually written for an adult to read out loud to the child. When an adult reads to a child reading can become a way to explore new ideas, such as learning what a pouch is. I love this book and have given it as a gift to many youngsters.

"Sebastian lives in a hat. It's a brown woollen hat. Sebastian is a pink fuzzy wombat."

Australian Marsupials are iconic to the Australian image; kangaroos, koalas, possums, wallabies and bandicoots all belong to this special group of animals.

These animals are wild and often roam close to our highways, resulting in a lot of road accidents. Australians are taught from a young age that if you accidentally hit and kill one of these animals it is important to check it's pouch for a baby.

"Sebastian lives in a hat" explores the care needs of a baby wombat after it's mother dies in a car accident. As a kindergarten teacher with over 10 years experience I can honestly say that there would be few kindergartens in Australia that does not have this book in their library. This book won best children's book in the 1985 Whitley Awards, and was shortlisted for the Australian Picture book of the year in 1986. It is beautifully illustrated and teaches the important concept of caring for orphaned animals.

This book is not patronizing, as suggested by the editorial, it is written simply so to be understood by young children. The gaps in this book, as also suggested in this editorial, will serve to promote questions from your child that will generate further interest to know more about such concepts as Australian animals, mammals and marsupials, indigenous animals to your own Country, special care for animals etc.

Please do not dismiss this book, based on the above editorial, it is an excellent story with important messages and concepts.

I'm a college student, and my roomie, from Australia, read this book to me. It's not only a wonderful book with whimsical value for a college girl, but also gives great lessons for children about rehabbing animals. The pictures are adorable!