The Death of a Wombat by Ivan Smith illustrated by Clifton Pugh

"Before noon more than twelve hundred square miles of 

bushland will be totally destroyed."

"The wombat comes from a pleasant family, fussy and gentle, slowminded, and polite."

"Everything likes a waddler."

Tuesday Treasure

The Death of a Wombat was originally a radio documentary presented in 1959. Sadly this is another one of the books that was recently discarded from my former school library along with the audio recording (a treasured vinyl LP record). Luckily I have my own copy of the book and I was able to find the audio is still available.

This is a deeply moving story with exquisite language.

Here are the first lines:

"It is night.
The moon is there.
The story begins in dry bushland,
bristling from the rough skin of Australia."

A piece of glass sits in the sun. By noon the fire will be raging.

This is not a book to share with a young child but this moving tale and amazing art should be shared with older groups in upper Primary and High School.

"Dozens of his koala cousins have died in the trees. They were not able to move, of course, but they clung on hard to the branches as the skin was burned like fresh, wet paint from their snouts."

My copy of this book was published in 1973 and includes a foreword by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.  Ivan smith wrote this story as an allegory on the human condition but for those reading this book today I think the scenes will resonate as a harrowing but also an accurate description of our recent national bushfire catastrophe and the impact on our beautiful animals.