Review: Diary of a Christmas Wombat by Jackie French

Ad disclosure: This product was sent to me free of charge by Harper Collins to be reviewed. However, as per my PR info disclaimer, this review is my unbiased honest opinion of the product.

Product: Diary of a Christmas Wombat* by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley

Price: £6.99 (RRP)

Age Range: Toddlers & young children

Manufacturer’s Description: Christmas comes but once a year and it’s just as well for Santa’s reindeer who have to fight with Mothball for the carrots left out for them by the local children. And when Mothball takes an unexpected sleigh ride, it’s not just Santa who faces the prospect of getting stuck in the chimney.

Christmas from a wombat’s eye view is always going to be interesting – especially when that wombat is Mothball!

Rating: (5/5 stars)

Review: We’ve never come across the Diary of a Wombat books by Jackie French before, but this Christmassy sequel appealed to all three of us instantly, and I think that we will have to get our hands on Mothball’s first few adventures in the New Year.

The story of Mothball’s night before Christmas is told via her diary of the night’s events; full of cute illustrations paired with short but witty monologue style diary entries. If I tell you how the first page goes, you’ll get an idea of the style of the book… “Slept. Scratched. Slept. Ate grass. Dangly things bumped against my nose! Got rid of them.”

Mothball manages to hitch a ride on Santa’s sleigh in her pursuit of carrots, encountering “strange creatures” (reindeer) and “wombat holes” (chimneys) while she is out seeing the world.

This book is a winning combination of adorable illustration and amusing storyline, which survives repeated reading – and I should know, Georgie has been getting me to read it to her on an almost daily basis since it arrived in the house! The story isn’t too long so young readers can enjoy it without getting bored. It’s an easy 5 stars for this sweet book.