Wombat by Christopher Cheng illustrated by Liz Duthie

This volume offers a solid combination of story and information. Wombats’ deployment of their 

“bony bottoms” to fend off their few predators 

and their secret pouches for their young will tickle and warm anyone to the wombat’s ways.

Deceptively sharp, like a wombat’s bottom. Kirkus

Yesterday I talked about wombats in picture books. Today I will look a little more closely at a fairly new non fiction book about wombats. This book is from the splendid series by Walker Books called Nature Storybooks. Yes they are stories or narratives as the series name implies, but each also contains a wealth of facts about each animal. These books are so well researched and designed, yet, at no time do these books overload the reader with facts.  Each page follows a format of a large illustration, lines of the narrative (in one font) and facts (in a different font) usually below the main narrative. At the back of each book there is an index and a page of further information. On the Walker Books site you can access teachers notes for each Australian title. 

These books (the full set) should be added to every Primary school library and public library too. They are perfect for class use and for sharing with children aged 4-8. 

Wombat begins with the lines:

"Far underground, where dirt and tree roots mesh, tunnels lead to a burrow, and Wombat's day begins. She ventures outside, alert and hungry as a fading sun farewells the day."

Now read the non fiction text which perfectly describes the cover image:

"Wombats have poor eyesight. Their ears are short, slightly rounded and small. Their button-like noses with nostrils at the tip are hairless and covered in grainy skin. They have course, thick fur, a bit like a doormat."

I also need to comment on the rich vocabulary Christopher Cheng uses in his book - mesh, ventures, ambles, determined, excavating, intense, raucous, antics, intruder, sanctuary, flinch, chamber, and wary.

This is the second Nature Storybook by Christopher Cheng - his previous title was Python illustrated by Mark Jackson. 

Publisher blurb for Wombat: Learn all about the Australian “bulldozer of the bush” in a fascinating introduction to the wombat. Wombats may look soft and cuddly, but they are determined and tough, with sharp teeth that never stop growing, limbs that they use to shovel dirt like bulldozers, and bony bottoms they use to defend their burrows. They can live for years without drinking water, getting all of their moisture from the plants they eat—and they deposit their cube-shaped poop on rocks or stumps as a warning to other wombats. Follow one of these powerful marsupials through a suspenseful day in Christopher Cheng’s engaging narration, paired with endearing illustrations by Liz Duthie and interspersed with intriguing facts. An endnote provides additional information about wombats for readers curious to learn more.

I was so pleased to see Wombat listed as a 2022 Eve Pownall Notable book for 2022. 

Read more about illustrator Liz Duthie here

Here are the teachers notes. You could compare Wombat (Christopher Cheng and Liz Duthie) with other wombat non fiction titles - there are sure to be a few in your library at [599.24]. 

Here are more of the Nature Storybooks which are also called Read and Wonder. I love the way many of these feature work by the best illustrators such as Satoshi Kitamura; Liz Anelli; Tannya Harricks; Anita Jeram; Charlotte Voake; Julie Vivas; Salvatore Rubbino; Michael Foreman; Catherine Rayner; and Tim Hopgood. They also showcase some fabulous authors too. In the US they are published by Candlewick. 

I have added these three to my own (very long) to read list: