View source for The Snow Womble by Elisabeth Beresford

{{infobox2
|title=The Snow Womble
|sort=Snow Womble
|author=Elisabeth Beresford
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=32
|publisher=Bloomsbury
|website=http://www.thewomblesbooks.com/
|date=October 2012
|isbn=1408834243
|aznuk=1408834243
|aznus=1408834243
|cover=1408834243
}}

Bloomsbury have been doing a fabulous job bringing the equally fabulous Wombles to a new - and hopefully more environmentally aware - children. And they haven't forgotten either Christmas or the littlest members of the family. Here is a little story with a wintry theme featuring our favourite eco-lovers-not-fighers in picture book format.

In ''The Snow Womble'', the Wombles wake up to a Wimbledon Common covered in snow. They have a jolly old time with the white stuff, making a snowman that looks like Uncle Bulgaria and accidentally dismantling it in a comedy of errors. It introduces young readers and listeners to the three young Wombles, Bungo, Orinoco and Tomsk, and their venerable leader, Great Uncle Bulgaria.

You get a good idea of their characters. ''Doesn't the Common look clean?'' says Bungo, the over-earnest, slightly pious one. ''It looks just like ice-cream!'' says Orinoco, the lazy, greedy one. "Come for a slide on this old tin tray!" says Tomsk, the energetic-but-not-particularly-bright one. And the ensuing mess is, of course, sorted out by Great Uncle Bulgaria, the father figure who only ''pretends'' to be fierce.

Admittedly, there isn't much recycling going on but it's a lovely story and who wants to be virtuous when it's been ''snowing'', for heavens sakes. Even recycling Wombles need a day off every now and again. Well, Orinoco doesn't, but that's another story. The Wombles are irresistible and the simple but funny text will enthuse a new generation of fans even without Nick Price's perfect illustrations, which manage to be lively and energetic but relaxing and colourful but not garish, all at the same time.

This lovely little book makes me wish I still had small children instead of the enormous teenagers that I actually do have!

Recommended.

And as soon as they're old enough, you really should invest in the chapter-a-night original series, beginning with [[The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford]].

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