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A review by kynan
The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford
3.0
This was our bedtime book for October, one chapter a night for the most part but sometimes half a chapter depending on how tired everyone was.
I didn't know that the Wombles existed in book form, before they existed in television form and discovered this fact when we were in the UK recently and binging on English-language books whilst they were available. I noticed the Wombles book on the table and decided to grab it, based purely on childhood memories.
From my perspective, it appears that the television series was pretty faithful to the characters from the book. I didn't love the story, but I didn't hate it either. The various Wombles are briefly introduced, mostly just defining their main characteristics (the old, wise Womble, the engineering Womble, the chef Womble, the bumbling nightwatch-Womble, the naive newly graduated Womble, etc). Once the Womble's "character" is defined then the stories spool out, usually following one or two Wombles on a self-contained experience, although there's a fair bit of call-back to previous adventures as the book progresses. There wasn't a lot of exposition and things, both large and small just happen and are passed by without too much delving into the hows or repercussions. Now, with all that said, I suspect I'm no longer the target audience, because the kids (4ish and 7ish) loved it. The chapters were just a smidge too long for my four-year old (although we might have made it through if there was a picture guaranteed in each chapter) which is why we sometimes only read half a chapter at a time.
We didn't read this every night, but it was asked for every night! I asked them both if they liked it when we finished yesterday and they both said they had and demanded that we start on [b:The Wandering Wombles|9555681|The Wandering Wombles|Elisabeth Beresford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1344315273s/9555681.jpg|2277656] tonight. The children's reviews were: "It was fun, they had a lot of fun! I liked that they were all happy at the midsummer's party. I liked Cousin Yellowstone and Uncle Bulgaria and Tobermory" and "I liked Madame Cholet...can't talk now watching TV."
I didn't know that the Wombles existed in book form, before they existed in television form and discovered this fact when we were in the UK recently and binging on English-language books whilst they were available. I noticed the Wombles book on the table and decided to grab it, based purely on childhood memories.
From my perspective, it appears that the television series was pretty faithful to the characters from the book. I didn't love the story, but I didn't hate it either. The various Wombles are briefly introduced, mostly just defining their main characteristics (the old, wise Womble, the engineering Womble, the chef Womble, the bumbling nightwatch-Womble, the naive newly graduated Womble, etc). Once the Womble's "character" is defined then the stories spool out, usually following one or two Wombles on a self-contained experience, although there's a fair bit of call-back to previous adventures as the book progresses. There wasn't a lot of exposition and things, both large and small just happen and are passed by without too much delving into the hows or repercussions. Now, with all that said, I suspect I'm no longer the target audience, because the kids (4ish and 7ish) loved it. The chapters were just a smidge too long for my four-year old (although we might have made it through if there was a picture guaranteed in each chapter) which is why we sometimes only read half a chapter at a time.
We didn't read this every night, but it was asked for every night! I asked them both if they liked it when we finished yesterday and they both said they had and demanded that we start on [b:The Wandering Wombles|9555681|The Wandering Wombles|Elisabeth Beresford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1344315273s/9555681.jpg|2277656] tonight. The children's reviews were: "It was fun, they had a lot of fun! I liked that they were all happy at the midsummer's party. I liked Cousin Yellowstone and Uncle Bulgaria and Tobermory" and "I liked Madame Cholet...can't talk now watching TV."