Diary of a Wombat

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Family wants to dry washing on the line; wombat doesn’t want things dangling onto her nose, so chews washing on line. In Seinfeld it’s Kramer who is always going to Jerry’s for cereal and whatnot. He is shown to be a fruit connoisseur, and in another episode the big gag is that Kramer could have won a lot of money after being scalded by hot coffee, but he is delighted with a lifetime’s supply of free coffees instead. A day by day account of the activities of ‘Mothball’ the Wombat. Written in diary (recount)format, it introduces children to the days of the week (Monday to Sunday) and times of the day (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night) as Mothball goes about his wombat business. The daily goings-on of Mothball the wombat are described inbrief, one word sentences, (e.g. slept)with the illustrations providing much of the humour and additional meaning. How doesMothball train his humans to do what he wants them to do? Do humans make good pets? They will research their pet (animal) andfind out about it's daily activities and habits,(what it likes to do), it's diet (what it eats) and how it lives with humans. Notes: Books and information about domestic animals are available in the classroom for students to use in their research. They can choose whatever pet they like, andmust refer to the criteria sheet when completing their diary writing. (see below)

So they're real characters, wombats. Diary of a Wombat is written from the wombat's perspective, and is incredibly adorable and funny. Her diary consists of sleeping, eating, scratching, and sleeping some more - until a family of humans moves in and she discovers she can get some tasty food if she bangs on tin rubbish bins. She's also protective of this new family, and valiantly does battle with the flat hairy creature (the doormat) before demanding a reward. The human family are in opposition to the wombat not because the humans are trying to get rid of her, but because they have different goals which cannot coexist: Ask students to create a list oftheirmorning routine before school - incorporating the use of a colon. In Diary of a Wombat, the gag doesn’t rely on the accumulation plot, so it’s much more subtle. You can see it in the line, ‘Demanded oats AND carrots’. Oats and carrots have been the important twin desire lines throughout the story and they come together at the end. WHAT DOES THE CHARACTER LEARN?Q. What is Mothball describing as a ‘flat, hairy creature?’ Response: The doormat. (Text participant)

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) administers the oldest national prize for children’s literature in Australia. Each year, the CBCA confers “Book of the Year” awards to literature for young people in five categories: Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Books and Information Books. In recent years the Picture Book category has emerged as a highly visible space within which the CBCA can contest discourses of cultural marginalization which construct Australian (‘colonial’) literature as inferior or adjunct to the major Anglophone literary traditions, and children’s literature as lesser than its adult counterpart. The CBCA has moved from asserting its authority by withholding judgment in the award’s early years towards asserting expertise via overtly politicized selections in the twenty-first century. Reading across the CBCA’s selections of picture books allows for insights into wider trends in Australian children’s literature and culture, and suggests a conscious engagement with social as well as literary values on the part of the CBCA in the twenty-first century.' What Are We Feeding Our Children When We Read Them a Book? Depictions of Mothers and Food in Contemporary Australian Picture Books Laurel Cohn, single work picture book Abstract Heidi Maier surveys the nominations for the Best Picture Book category of the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards and gives her judgement on which book deserves to win the 2003 award. Small Wonders Gail MacCallum, p. 20-22 ) Abstract 'Writing for children and young adults requires an ability to inspire wonder combined with deep reserves of patience, says Susanne Gervay.' () A Decade in Wombat Years Diana Plater, This is an oblivious character who doesn’t see the havoc she wreaks behind her. She doesn’t realise the humans filled up her hole because they didn’t want a hole. Unlike Peter Rabbit, she doesn’t realise the carrots in the garden have been planted there by someone and that she thieved them. She thinks she happened upon them. WHAT DOES SHE WANT?Responses should indicate that Mothball's main focus is finding carrots to eat and he does this by digging for carrots in the vegetable garden, bashing up the rubbish bin until he is given carrots, finding carrots in the shopping bags in the car etc. Unusually for a children’s book, the wombat is female yet has not been given any typically feminine markers, such as a big pink bow. This is partly to do with the realistic style of art. (There is no obvious sexual dimorphism in wombats — you can’t easily tell the sex of a wombat unless you’re an expert.) I wonder if you assumed the wombat was male until “For Pete’s sake! Give her some carrots!” A study by Janet McCabe told us that unless animal characters are given obvious female markers then we tend to read them as male. The wombat has simple needs and lives in a wombat utopia — a rural human environment with a large supply of carrots growing in the garden, good soil for digging holes and everything else she could possibly want. The wombat’s stand-out feature is that she wants for nothing. But for narrative drive, a story requires that the main character want something. Activity 7. Guided Reading - read the story a second time. This time pausing at various points to ask questions.