Availability:
This book is temporarily out of stock, order will be despatched as soon as
fresh stock is received.
Local release date:
Format:
Description
Author
Biography
Sales
Points
Teacher Notes
Page Spreads
Reviews
Google
Preview
Mother wombat digs a new burrow when a joey is coming. She names it Willit. When he is big enough to eat grass, Willit goes with his mum when she leaves the burrow. They find a new, hard, black track that smells funny. Mum decides to explore. A noisy monster roars by and mother wombat doesn’t reach the other side. Willit is terrified and lost. Everyone needs friends. A raven warns Willit to leave his mum. Bobby the Bobtail arrives with Brownie a Honeyeater. They persuade Willie Wagtail to lead Willit to his relatives. Willie only travels in the day and Willit only at night. They solve this problem and set out. Over three days and nights each has adventures but at last they arrive at the Old Burrow where the Great Wombat accepts the strange joey and his aunt fosters him. Safe at last.
Frances Maber was born in England and educated in Western Australia where she still lives. After 6 years as a High School Teacher she moved into the Commonwealth Department of Education. She married in 1967. She has no children.
Her career prospered. She was the first woman appointed as Director of a Commonwealth Department first in WA, then Victoria before moving to Canberra. In 1979 she was awarded the O.B.E. for Services to Education. Her next move was to the post of Registrar at Murdoch University in WA.
Once retired, in 2005 she set out write a wombat’s life story. In 2007 she met Albany artist Alexander Hills and the Maber-Hills team was established. By 2009 the Willit Trilogy was complete.
The author/publisher gives all her proceeds from the books to the Wombat Foundation for the purposes of funding wombat research and protection, particularly of endangered Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombats.
A well written heart-warming story about the importance of friends, combined with facts about wombat behaviour and vulnerability. It is an educational tool.
Delightful illustrations by an experienced artist are spread throughout. These ensure that a 4 year old is gripped by the tale and children up to 9 return to it regularly.
Supported by two scientists (see back cover) and read by a vet who claimed it taught him more about wombats than he had learnt at university
The adventures of wombat and wagtail are realistic – they mimic the sort of things that happen to bush walkers.
