Wombat Walkabout
A read-aloud with an Aussie accent, this bouncy rhyming tale of wandering wombats delivers age-appropriate suspense as well as a countdown. Six roly-poly brown wombats stroll, single file, in a dusty desert: They didn't see the dingo with the hungry eye,/ 'I've a hunch my lunch just walked on by!'Â  One by one, the wombats bringing up the rear stop to pick a gum nut or listen to a kookaburra bird, and the party diminishes (and then there were five). Shields (Lunch Money) does not reveal their fate, and readers will suspect the worst. In sandy watercolor hues, Blackall (Meet Wild Boars) individuates the plump, bearish wombats via accessories, like a paper hat or string of beads, while the swaggering dingo favors a pipe. She lets the foxy-orange dingo's pointy ears or long, sinister nose protrude from behind gray rocks and twisted trees; kids will enjoy hunting the villain in her offbeat, detailed spreads.A glossary demystifies the lingo from Oz. Ages 3–5.(Mar.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.