Diary of a Wombat

Product Information

Wombat learns that if she makes a big enough nuisance of herself then the humans will give her exactly what she wants.

In this mythic journey the wombat finds a new home, even closer to the humans than before, burrowed under the house. In Diary of a Wombat, the gag doesn’t rely on the accumulation plot, so it’s much more subtle. You can see it in the line, ‘Demanded oats AND carrots’. Oats and carrots have been the important twin desire lines throughout the story and they come together at the end. WHAT DOES THE CHARACTER LEARN?An activity for the children will be writing a week journal themselves, monitor what they have done during the week even though it might be simple words.

Family wants to dry washing on the line; wombat doesn’t want things dangling onto her nose, so chews washing on line.

Looking for something different

A day by day account of the activities of ‘Mothball’ the Wombat. Written in diary (recount)format, it introduces children to the days of the week (Monday to Sunday) and times of the day (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night) as Mothball goes about his wombat business. The daily goings-on of Mothball the wombat are described inbrief, one word sentences, (e.g. slept)with the illustrations providing much of the humour and additional meaning. How doesMothball train his humans to do what he wants them to do? Do humans make good pets? This article explores the findings from the first “diversity count” of Australian children’s picture books, conducted in 2019 in partnership with advocacy group Voices from the Intersection (VFTI). Specifically, this article explores the eighty-three percent of 2018 Australian children’s picture books that did not feature a marginalized protagonist: namely, those that featured human characters who could not be identified as marginalized in any way, animals, and inhuman protagonists. We propose that the Australian publishing industry, rather than suffering from a “diversity deficit,” instead overrepresents a narrow demographic of human experiences and non-human protagonists. We suggest that the oversaturation of the local children’s picture book market with such similar stories disadvantages all children, who are denied a rich and diverse reading experience, as well as the opportunity to see themselves and their peers depicted. This article provides greater insight into the current debates about diversity and inclusion in children’s media.'(Publication abstract) What I’m Reading (Aloud) Sarah Burnside, Q. What is Mothball describing as a ‘flat, hairy creature?’ Response: The doormat. (Text participant) single work picture book ; The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life) Martine Murray,