My mother told me at the time that bluejays act as scouts for other creatures, but that surprisingly little is known about them. When I was a child I remember watching a bluejay in a tree shouting a warning to the other birds in the neighborhood. A list of Australian Words to Know with definitions alongside is available for easy reference. Do not be surprised after reading this book if you find yourself in desperate need to see a wombat immediately. Everyone from Bad Bart the biter to Rikki, the wombat that couldn’t quite figure out why biting through someone’s wrist might be bad. French also tells us about the wombats she has known.

Through observation, research, and personal recollections Ms. We learn about their burrows, intelligence, communication, aversion to direct sunlight, etc. How to Scratch a Wombat explains every single aspect of a wombat existence.

Because of this, or perhaps in spite of it, she has grown close to the wombat community, caring for the orphaned and injured ones, as well as the healthy and destructive. French is a superb writer, and through her ridiculous looking manuscript she was able to continue her career in writing. The manuscript was so terrible looking, in fact, that it stood out amongst the other books in the slush pile (wannabe writers, do not attempt). By the time she was done her manuscript was misspelled, yellowed, smudged with wombat-droppings, and every time she used the letter “E” it had to be written in by hand. A nearby wombat named Smudge disliked the typewriter thoroughly though, and he let his disapproval be known in a rather messy manner. French found a typewriter and proceeded to write a children’s book in her shed. Unemployed, alone, and in need of $106.44, Ms. What do they eat? What kinds are there? And can you really scratch one? A fascinating examination of a critter too little known on our side of the pond.Ī wombat was responsible for Jackie French’s career as a writer. This 96-page book will answer most of your most basic questions about the world of wombats. What is non-fiction is French and Whatley’s follow-up title, How to Scratch a Wombat. It isn’t non-fiction (though many of the events in it are based on real life). But at its heart, Diary of a Wombat is just a picture book.

It’s one of those Australian names for an animal I’d never seen before, right? The book turned out to be just as charming as the cover, and through it whole generations of American children have learned some basic facts about Vombatus ursinus. Mind you, I did not know what a wombat was. I was in a bookstore perusing the picture book titles when I was struck by the image of Bruce Whatley’s ridiculously adorable wombat dead asleep on its side, a pile of carrots sitting nearby. I remember where I was the first time I read Jackie French’s Diary of a Wombat. Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French