Wombat Goes Walkabout
By (Author) Michael Morpurgo
Illustrated by Christian Birmingham
HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins
27th September 2000
United Kingdom
Children
Fiction
Childrens picture books
823.914
Short-listed for Kate Greenaway Medal 2000
Paperback
32
Width 226mm, Height 312mm, Spine 3mm
210g
Wombat loves digging deep holes and thinking deep thoughts, but nobody thinks much of that until danger threatens the bush and the small wombat comes up with a great big idea...One day Wombat digs the deepest hole he's ever dug and crawls into the cool darkness to think. But when he climbs out again, he can't see his mother anywhere. He is all alone. As he wanders through the great outback looking for her, Wombat meets all kinds of wonderful creatures -- Kookaburra, Wallaby, Possum, Emu, Boy and Koala. None of them think very much of him, though. But when a fire sweeps through the bush, it is Wombat's skills which save the day, and afterwards everyone races off to find his mum and bring her back to him. AGE 4-8
Warm, soft pastel drawings by Christian Birmingham distinguish every page of Wombat Goes Walkabout .Our young wombat digs such a deep hole that he lose his mother. Wandering through the bush, depicted in earthy tones with blues and mauves drifted in, the wombat asks other animals what they can do. The illustrations are zoologically correct but the wombat still has the goofy, amiable charm of a cartoon character.
Observer
Michael Morpurgo divides his time between writing and running Farms for City Children, a charity which each year takes up to 3,000 children to a farm for a week. Christian Birmingham graduated from Exeter College of Art and Design in 1991, and is one of the most talented artists of his generation.