Champ Reviews: Saving Wombats

I have been ever so busy catching up on my book reviews. The book I’ve been reading is called Saving Wombats by a clever Pawthor, Emma Homes.  She writes about animals so it’s very clear Emma loves animals and I like her already.

Here’s what Saving Wombats is all about. Ruthie, dad Tom and mum Kate, along with Ruthie’s younger siblings, Liam and Bel, and their pet wombat Womble (what a cute name!) are going to her cousins’ farm to spend a lovely holiday in the countryside (sounds like fun!). Up ahead they see a sad sight (yelp!): a wombat has been run over by a speeding truck. Ruthie’s parents stop to check the animal and discover it has a tiny baby in its pouch. The baby is still alive (yay!). Luckily, the Jirringbah Wildlife Shelter is on the same route and soon they get the baby, called a pinky, to Jo Matthews who shows the kids how to take care of the pinky. While they are there, the kids learn a lot about Australia’s wildlife and some of the skin diseases that can affect these animals; one is a horrible disease called mange (dogs can get mange too!). Ruthie doesn’t want to admit that soon Womble will be old enough to be released into the wild – imagine if he gets a nasty, itchy skin condition from the mange. Once they get to their cousins, the kids find out more about wombats and mange because there is a wombat on the farm that looks as if it has a bad case of mange. Medication can cure the condition, but it’s catching the animal and applying the medication regularly that’s the problem. Wombats are also pretty quick when it comes to getting away! With the help of some wildlife experts and her Uncle Dave, they devise a clever way of getting the medication onto the skin of the elusive wombat. Will the medicine cure this sick wombat? Will Ruthie be able to release Womble back into the wild?

I never knew there was such an animal as a wombat. But I live in California and they live in Australia so I guess that’s why. Australia looks very far away on the map. Wombats look so cute and cuddly, but they can be fierce if someone tries to get into their burrow.  I loved reading about Ruthie and her family, and especially that they all care about animals. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone in the world felt the same way? This book tells you so much about wildlife in Australia and how important it is to protect the environment. It’s a great book for kids, but people who are interested in animals and saving the planet will also enjoy it. This book is a winner for all ages and I think school libraries should have it on their shelves because kids can learn a lot and have fun at the same time! I give it five stars. I wonder if I will ever meet a wombat. I would say, “Hello Wombat. My name is Champ. What’s yours?”