Wombats are Pretty Weird: a [not so] serious guide – Abi Cushman

Harper Collins Australia

October 2023

ISBN: 9780063234437
ISBN 10: 0063234432
Imprint: HarperCollins US
RRP: $24.99

Here in the land of Down Under, we are pretty relaxed about wombats. They are, for many of us, the most loveable buffoons of the marsupial clan. They have been immortalised in literally dozens of picture books, including, so notably, Jackie French’s wombat series, ensuring that our kiddos are pretty au fait with these whiskery, lumbering powerhouses.

But they have also long been a source of amusement and wonder for those not fortunate enough to be born here. The pre-Raphaelites, and particularly Dante Gabriel Rossetti, were positively obsessed with the creatures, keeping them as pets, and repeatedly sketching and putting them into their various artworks. [Concidentally, I’ve just re-read Kate Forsyth’s Beauty in Thorns, which reminded me of this jolly fact all over again].

These chubby little guys regularly make it into Top 10 Australian animal oddities or curiosities lists, so there is clearly a very general, global fascination with them continuing to this day.

Author/Ilustrator Abi Cushman has capitalised on the interest and quirkiness in this terrific non-fiction debut, which will have appeal for all young readers. It really is a complete package with factual information, humour, sidebars, comic panels, quite extensive backmatter including a map, additional resources, and photos of the three wombat species. The endpapers with the cutaways of wombats lounging in their burrows are fabulous, as is the running gag of the snake interrupting indignantly 🐍.

My single slight carp is the use of ‘Mom’ instead of Mum (for an Aussie beast) but understandable given Abi is American, and this is also a book first pitched at the US market, but regardless of such a trifle, this a super book for inclusion with any topic on Australian Animals, which we all know is a regular.

I’m very happily giving it a huge recommendation for readers from around 4/5 years up to around 8. Check out Abi’s interview with Mr Schu on Watch.Connect.Read

Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s frontispiece, complete with wombat, for his sister Christina’s long poem Goblin Market, which includes the line “One like a wombat prowled obtuse and furry”