A Wombat's World

Children's Literature - Heidi Hauser Green

Exotic animals are a favorite topic with many young readers. Here, they have the chance to learn about an Australian marsupial, the common wombat. The book begins with a female wombat that mates and gives birth a month later. It follows the baby wombat as it pulls itself into its mother's pouch, grows and leaves the pouch. It continues through the baby wombat's childhood, including play, feeding, care, learning, and more. From the first page to the last, Arnold's soft-edged, cut paper illustrations seem to convey a warmth of feeling between the mother wombat and her child. Includes a map of Australia with markers indicating where each of the three kinds of wombats can be found, as well as two lists of fast facts about them, a glossary, an index, and lists of books and web sites for finding out more. Part of "Caroline Arnold's Animals" series. Reviewer: Heidi Hauser Green

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2

Each of these books describes one Australian mammal. Arnold opens with a brief entry stating where the mammal lives and its habitat, food, length, weight, animal class, and scientific name. Her narrative of a female's life from birthing preparations through raising the young cleverly contrasts with distinctly hued boxes of fast facts, such as the length of a platypus's burrow or size of a newborn wombat. Along the way, readers will also learn to identify other species in the biome, via captioned images. In both titles, the cut-paper illustrations in scenic spreads feature a night-time palette of indigo, olive, mocha, and burnt sienna. Back matter includes a map of the habitat, six fun facts, and instructions for accessing FactHound's site to research related topics. Visually engaging and brimming with data, these books are perfect for reports on these animals or the Australian continent.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA