Wombles Go Round the World

Elizabeth Beresford (author)

Bloomsbury, UK: 1976, March 2011; 225pp

ISBN: 9781408808351 

Genre: adventure

Issues: community, environment

Great Uncle Bulgaria is quite offended to find that the young Wombles are getting bored with the old stories but has one of his greatest ideas yet to reinvigorate Womble history lessons.

Bungo, Orinoco, Wellington and Tomsk soon find themselves travelling to all the greatest burrows in the world, meeting distant (and eccentric) relatives. In each encounter they take note of the particular pollution problems and how they are managed by each group of Wombles. The listen to the wisdom and stories of the burrow leaders and they sample an enormous range of international Womble cuisine, gathering a few recipes to take home to Madame Cholet. It wouldn't be a true Womble adventure without a few emergencies and unexpected adventures but resilience and creative thinking generally get the young heroes out of trouble.

It is wonderful to see Bloomsbury reprinting some of the late Elizabeth Beresford's stories. The Wombles, with their highly advanced attitudes towards sustainability are characters for our time. The many ingenious uses that Tobermory finds for recycled objects should inspire young readers to look differently at the things they would usually discard. Beresford was a writer ahead of her time whose skill wasn't really recognised until she produced the Wombles series, when the eccentric and whimsical characters of Great Uncle Bulgaria, Tobermory, Madame Cholet, Miss Adelaide, Bungo, Orinoco, Tomsk and Wellington captured reader's hearts. The stop-motion TV series of the 70s aroused further interest but imaginative readers will find the books are even better.

Beresford was an imaginative writer with a dry sense of humour and in The Wombles Go Round The World she had a lovely time creating international Wombles that reflected the nature of their country. The Great White Wombles of Tibet are a lovely touch, as is Great Great-Aunty Murrumbidgee of the Australian burrow. While the Wombles series is always a delight to read, it is best when shared with others. Teachers doing units on sustainability or environmental issues could easily integrate the series into their class reading programmes. Families could enjoy the episodic chapters together, as a break from television.

If you haven't yet met the Wombles, what are you waiting for – they might be extraordinarily shy where Human Beings are concerned but they're very good friend once you get to know them!

Series: The Wombles; The Wandering Wombles; The Wombles At Work; The Wombles to the Rescue