The wombles [Hardcover]

Elisabeth Beresford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1969

The adventures of the Wombles who live underground and collect the things that untidy humans leave behind.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A lively, entertaining and humorous book, stuffed with ingenious ideas and endearing characters' The Times 'Over 40 years after the original book, The Wombles is reprinted, their recycling ways more relevant than ever' Junior 'There's something wonderfully old-fashioned and charming about the "short, fat, furry" creatures. They are simple without being simplistic, innocent without being naive, civic minded for its own sake ' Irish Examiner 'Today's children will be as charmed as their parents by Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco, Bungo and Tobermory and their quest to recycle rubbish and put it to good use' www.express.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Elisabeth Beresford first came up with the idea for the Womble characters when walking on Wimbledon Common with her two children. She started sketching out the characters that day: Great Uncle Bulgaria was based on her father-in-law, Tobermory on her brother (an inventor), Orinoco on her son, and Madame Cholet on her mother. She hoped that the Wombles stories would encourage children to fight pollution and to think up ways of 'making good use of bad rubbish'. In fact, the Wombles so charmed the nation that they were chosen as the mascots for the Tidy Britain campaign. Since then they have had their own television series, first broadcast on Jackanory. Elisabeth Beresford was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature in 1998. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 183 pages
• Publisher: Meredith Press (1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0696877376
• ISBN-13: 978-0696877377
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,459,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The inspiration for the TV series, records, etc., November 2, 1999

By 

Frederick Harrison (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The wombles (Hardcover)

Published back in 1968, this was the very first of five Wombles novels written by Elisabeth Beresford. It's a well crafted, witty, and endearing work, intended for the older reader (8-11) and establishes the Wombles as the inventive, cunning and ecologically minded creatures that have charmed the hearts of millions. The TV series that followed watered down some of the detail and narrative in this book to suit the attention span and comprehension of younger viewers, but this is the Wombles as they were originally conceived. In fact, if all you have known of the Wombles is their TV series and short story picture books, then you are in for a bit of a surprise as you will find them to be far more sophisticated and inspired characters than one would gather from the TV series. In addition, without belabouring the point too strongly, Elisabeth Beresford manages to call attention to the wastefulness and alienation of human society, contrasting it against the resourcefulness and camaraderie of the Wombles. This was one of the very first childrens' books to introduce ecological concerns into its narrative and it succeeds without being "preachy". Come to think of it, the Womble maxim of "making good use of bad rubbish" has never been more appropriate or timely than for our own society...

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, September 3, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wombles Pb (Take Part) (Paperback)

Humans are disgustingly messy.


The wombles are cute furry little anthropomorphic intelligent things that live on Wimbledon common, as a small family organisation.

Their thing is that they go around dealing with all the rubbish that gets left around. Entertaining enough with an obvious message for them kids.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good condition for uses, August 9, 2009

By 

Sharon Keniston (Allentown PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Wombles (Hardcover)

This was a gift shipped directly to my daughter, but she is very happy with it. She said it looked carefully taken care over all these years.