"Everything they'd known was grey - A crumbling ash and smoke-smudged day."
"But now the weeping sky gave rain, sweeping off black fire's stain."
As the story opens the bushfire has started and it is moving quickly. The animals awake to the sound and smell of smoke and flame. Larger and more agile animals flee - kangaroos and cockatoos. Others borrow deep into the dirt - echidnas or seek shelter in underground tunnels - wombats. Once the fire storm has passed we see the small animals emerging from their safe place. The trees are all destroyed and the earth is scorching hot. With burnt paws we see the wombat stumbling on searching for water and food. The creek bed is dry and the wombat collapses but overnight there is a miracle. Humans have dropped food for the animals, including carrots, a favourite of all wombats along with precious water.
When you see the name Jackie French on the cover of a book you know you are in the safe hands of a master storyteller. And of course we all know how much Jackie loves wombats.
After reading Death of a Wombat (a book for much older students) many years ago I am somewhat sensitive to books about bushfires and their impact on our Australian wildlife especially on small slower moving creatures like wombats. Luckily you can see from the cover that the wombat in this book (thanks Danny Snell) is smiling and that the bushfire has passed - notice the black tree stump and the black tree trunks in the background. The other important thing to notice is the regrowth. That is an amazing feature of our native flora - the way it quite quickly recovers after horrendous fires. Within days, it seems, new shoots appear.
The Fire Wombat is a CBCA 2021 Notable book. I am certain it will make the short list of six picture books which will be announced on 30th March.
I have talked about Bushfires in a previous post.
Here are some teachers notes for The Fire Wombat.
I would pair this book with these:
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