Diary of a Wombat

Narrated from the witty perspective of a highly intelligent wombat, this delightful tale offers a humorous account of the wombat's comical encounters with humans and her relentless pursuit of sustenance. The book combines straightforward yet expressive illustrations with the wombat's sharp-witted observations, providing an entertaining glimpse into a world where animals train humans. As students read along, they will find themselves chuckling at the wombat's amusing escapades, all while engaging in valuable exercises of making connections, posing inquiries, and drawing inferences to unravel the intricacies of the wombat's everyday existence.

When I tell people about trips to Australia, it will somehow involve my favorite animal in the entire world, the wombat. It's a wild animal, despite it looking like it'd be a great pet. They're not malicious nor aware that what they do is "bad" and they're so darn cute so you can't be angry with them.The wombat's story takes place over a week, and starts out with the wombat sleeping, eating and scratching. Eventually, it discovers humans, and as every pet owner knows, humans are great sources of food for cute and cuddly things. Jackie French is a good author - making the wombat less like an annoyance but instead, a cute cuddly animal that can't help itself.The illustrations are top notch and give the wombat a personality of its own. It shows how destructive they can be - but it's not malicious. They see food, and go after it.You can't go wrong with this book. It's a great introduction to one of the world's most unique animals and makes for a good story for kids.

Best humorous book I've found about this Australian marsupial. (I love working with teens, and volunteer at a detention center. Many of them have lots of stuff going on and need all the help they can get to find a comfortable place for themselves in the world) At first none of them would do more than glance at the cover, apparently too afraid that the others would think them childish) It is beautifully illustrated and looks like a young child's read-aloud book, but once the kids here had the story read aloud to them, several have asked for the book to read it again to themselves. They even recommend the book to new kids coming in. (there's a lot of turnover here.) When I bought the book I also bought a small stuffed version of the animal, which has been very popular with the kids. (See my review about "Batty".)I copied an encyclopedia article with picture of a real wombat, which not really surprisingly, many have read that, too. They are very curious about wombats and often ask questions, which I'm happy to answer. I'm always thrilled when they show interest in something that has nothing to do with their own very real difficulties. I don't know what I'll do next, but this will be hard to beat!

We read dozens and dozens of childrens' books featuring local flora and fauna during our trip to New Zealand and Australia and this one was by far the most engaging and delightful. We didn't buy it in the first store where we saw it and then spent the ensuing several weeks quoting it at every available occasion. We even started demanding carrots for both good and bad behavior.One thing we loved is the link between the narration and the drawings -- they complement each other in clever and wonderful ways. On one page the wombat discovers a new scratching post and only in studying the drawing do you see that he has dislodged a can of paint. At the end of the book many of his targets (from clean laundry to a pair of boots) are visible in one truly great image.Another great thing is how well the book gets across how wombats really act without ever stating any boring facts. The humorous text and graphics simply show a wombat doing what wombats do -- it's a great purchase as a souvenir because it can introduce a child to this funny animal.Strongly recommended.

The sweet and funny wombat sure made his way to the hearts of my grandkids. They seemed very pleased with the book and enjoyed the wombat adventures and competition with human neighbors to eat every carrot in their house and garden.Cute story and nice illustrations. We loved it.

Cute book! As advertised. Good price.

*****SPOILERS READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL*****One of the funniest stories about the life of a wombat, beginning with the easy life cycle of the wombat. Then the Wombat realizes that there are humans that are living near by, then proceeds to show the destructive nature of the wombat. But from the Wombat’s point of view it isn’t being destructive, it is merely requesting things and not understanding the difference between the human world and the wombat world. The wombat receives carrots from the humans, and since then have been terrorizing the humans to get the carrots. That was the first mistake they made, as they continue to give the wombat carrots, and when the wombat is tired of carrots, the humans then feed it oats. The wombat considers everything he or she is doing as just part of his life, and some of the things he is doing he considers as a help to the humans. I felt it was an innocent way to describe the different perspective that animals and humans have. What we consider as an animal being destructive, animals are merely looking for food. They do not understand the difference. It is also a lesson of not feeding wild animals. they become too comfortable with humans and messes with their natural life. At the end the wombat decided that humans are easy to train and make good pets and decided to live under the house of the humans.The art was cute. The story was hilarious. I could’t help but laugh at the story. I recommend it!

Such a funny delightful story for children and adults alike.