Picture Book Spotlight: Diary of a Wombat

One of the many wonderful things about the library is our substantial collection of really great children's books. With large collections though, it can sometimes be easy to overlook special books.

One such book in our collection is Diary of A Wombat by Jackie French.

Wombats are from Australia; so, most children in our library have never seen one in real life. The illustrations by Bruce Whatley really shine here and show how adorable these animals are. It describes a typical "day in the life," but when this wombat stumbles upon a human house, she shakes things up a bit for the people living there. Chaos ensues in a funny way. The best part is that this is only the first of the series! 

We also have read-alikes, or other books with similar themes, for Diary of a Wombat:

Say Hello to Zorro! by Carter Goodrich

Mr. Bud loves his strict schedule. When a new dog comes home, he has trouble adjusting until he finds the schedule is still in place.

"Both Diary of a Wombat and Say Hello to Zorro! have animal heroes whose relaxed schedules and personal space are interrupted by intruders. Mr. Bud's (Zorro) dog life is invaded by another pup, Wombat's world faces human intrusion." -Susie Wilde, courtesy of Novelist, a database our library offers where you can find read-alikes.

Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes

Penny finds a marble in her neighbor's yard and takes it home. She knows she shouldn't, and her guilt plagues her until she returns it. Then, she finds out it was a gift for her.

Both are available throughout our library system and there are plenty of other books in our collection just waiting to be found and loved!