Diary of a Baby Wombat
PreS-Gr 2–As delectable in tone and delivery as the beloved Diary of a Wombat (Clarion, 2003), this title is told from the perspective of a baby wombat that makes multiple creative attempts to find the family a bigger home. Mum and baby are growing out of their burrow. They can't find a place big enough for them until the young wombat finds a human toddler friend who invites them to live in his “hole.” This arrangement isn't successful, but children will be charmed by the friendship formed during the child and the animal's play. While the text, floating in plenty of white, reads simply: “Morning: Woke up.../Dug a new hole. /Afternoon: Scratched,” the deft acrylic illustrations depict a sequence of vignettes laid out across the bottom margin of the page, reminiscent of a flip book laid out flat: baby wombat waddling out of a cramped burrow; toddler making a sand castle with baby wombat digging alongside; baby wombat scratching on a young tree, causing a bird's nest to fall on the toddler's head. The typeface is childlike, etched, and irregular. Beginning readers have just enough text to gain confidence while the illustrations provide oodles more meaning and endless laughs. It is a text begging for inference. For more wombat facts, pair this with French's How to Scratch a Wombat (Clarion, 2009).Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City© Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.