What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wombles #2
The Wandering Wombles
The Wandering Wombles
182 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Elisabeth Beresford
147 books19 followersElisabeth "Liza" Beresford MBE was a British author of children's books, best known for creating The Wombles. Born into a family with many literary connections, she worked as a journalist but struggled for success until she created the Wombles in the 1960s. The strong theme of recycling was particularly notable, and the Wombles became very popular with children across the world. While Beresford produced many other literary works, the Wombles remained her most well known creation.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 10, 2023
I enjoyed it an awful lot! A very relaxing read in the stressful exam season
July 4, 2019
We enjoyed this tale of the wombles being forced to relocate from their burrow on Wimbledon Common, but it did feel rather padded out to make a longer story. There were two strands - Bungo and Orinoco's adventures in the Scottish Highlands, which didn't really add much to the story and rather fizzled out, and Wellington and Tomsk's adventures in London, which were much better.
Sadly the Wombles of Wimbledon Common are looking likely to be the Wombles mostly of Hyde Park from now on, which doesn't have quite the same ring to it!
Sadly the Wombles of Wimbledon Common are looking likely to be the Wombles mostly of Hyde Park from now on, which doesn't have quite the same ring to it!
November 10, 2023
Really enjoyed.
The McWombles were loads of fun. Love Wellington and Tomsk as a duo.
Tbh I actually finished this ages ago so I can't remember much else. Good book.
The McWombles were loads of fun. Love Wellington and Tomsk as a duo.
Tbh I actually finished this ages ago so I can't remember much else. Good book.
June 11, 2020
I'm both happy and sad. I dont really know what else to say about this.
Orinoco is still my favourite even if all he does is have some forty winks...
Orinoco is still my favourite even if all he does is have some forty winks...
October 8, 2021
The Womble books have been an utter joy to re-discover with my children. Beautifully written, it is hard not to feel affection for each of the Womble characters. These books written in the 1960's and 1970's demonstrate that concern for the environment and the need to care for it are not recent issues. What is perhaps sad is that the themes of needing to pick up rubbish and deal with traffic pollution have not dated, and have since these stories were written have actually worsened.
This story joins the Wombles at the point when they decide it is necessary to look for a new home, away from Wimbledon Common, because of the increased levels of traffic and the resultant impact on their underground burrows. We follow as Orinoco and Bungo set off on their journey to find a more suitable habitat to live in.
Despite the quite serious nature of the topic, there is a definite lightness to the book and the way in which the tale is told. This is, ultimately, a joyful, uplifting and empowering book for young children to hear.
This story joins the Wombles at the point when they decide it is necessary to look for a new home, away from Wimbledon Common, because of the increased levels of traffic and the resultant impact on their underground burrows. We follow as Orinoco and Bungo set off on their journey to find a more suitable habitat to live in.
Despite the quite serious nature of the topic, there is a definite lightness to the book and the way in which the tale is told. This is, ultimately, a joyful, uplifting and empowering book for young children to hear.
November 23, 2015
So the world of the Wombles turns out to be a little wider, and a little scarier, than it seemed from the first book. I'm still not sure why they didn't look properly at the old maps of London before sending Bungo and Orinoco to Scotland, but hey, good adventure, I'm not complaining.
Read
December 2, 2023Hmmmm
I picked this off the shelf because I’m back reading at the moment, looking at “tropes” (unkind word, what’s a better one — characteristics?) of children’s books, including the pleasures of tiny-ness, sensuous detail and worlds-within-worlds
The Wombles are classic world-within-world: secretly occupying spaces around humans, building their lifestyles around what humans discard, and negotiating those times when the two systems overlap (I did not recall at all from childhood that Wombles come out at night)
In the bio statement at the end of the book it’s noted that Beresford wrote quarter of a million words per year. Maybe that’s why this book felt a tad perfunctory— the prose isn’t really any better than it needs to be, in order to get you through the book. Did I notice as a kid that the only female characters are a teacher and a cook? Possibly not. And all the commentary about weight — Wombles are meant to be sturdy but the edge of this is tightly patrolled with many a condemnation of the ones who get too tubby. But series like this probably rely on repeatedly made points, catchphrases and things that become instantly familiar, which is how this felt
I picked this off the shelf because I’m back reading at the moment, looking at “tropes” (unkind word, what’s a better one — characteristics?) of children’s books, including the pleasures of tiny-ness, sensuous detail and worlds-within-worlds
The Wombles are classic world-within-world: secretly occupying spaces around humans, building their lifestyles around what humans discard, and negotiating those times when the two systems overlap (I did not recall at all from childhood that Wombles come out at night)
In the bio statement at the end of the book it’s noted that Beresford wrote quarter of a million words per year. Maybe that’s why this book felt a tad perfunctory— the prose isn’t really any better than it needs to be, in order to get you through the book. Did I notice as a kid that the only female characters are a teacher and a cook? Possibly not. And all the commentary about weight — Wombles are meant to be sturdy but the edge of this is tightly patrolled with many a condemnation of the ones who get too tubby. But series like this probably rely on repeatedly made points, catchphrases and things that become instantly familiar, which is how this felt
November 21, 2019
This book was such a trip down memory lane, it was so, so enjoyable. I'm too young to remember The Wombles on TV but my mum used to watch them and so I've always known what the stories were about, and she also used to read this book to me, so reading it again after all these years was so nostalgic!
It's sad to think that this is such an old book but that it's one of the best I have read this year ahah! It wasn't the first book in the series but I didn't know that when I started it, either way, in no way does it stop you from understanding the plot or enjoying it. All of the characters made my heart feel fuzzy and warm, especially Wellington, he is the cutest Womble ever !
I really enjoyed the plot of the Wombles having to move from their burrow because it was falling in from the traffic in London, it's a mature type of children's book, teaching them about the problems with technology, environmental issues and other things, but I dont think it's too adult for them to really enjoy.
I absolutely loved reading this book, I don't know why it took me so long, because it was a really short and sweet read! I highly recommend to anyone who wants to reconnect with their inner child, it's also a fabulous book to read to children if you're looking for a bit more of an original and sensible story.
It's sad to think that this is such an old book but that it's one of the best I have read this year ahah! It wasn't the first book in the series but I didn't know that when I started it, either way, in no way does it stop you from understanding the plot or enjoying it. All of the characters made my heart feel fuzzy and warm, especially Wellington, he is the cutest Womble ever !
I really enjoyed the plot of the Wombles having to move from their burrow because it was falling in from the traffic in London, it's a mature type of children's book, teaching them about the problems with technology, environmental issues and other things, but I dont think it's too adult for them to really enjoy.
I absolutely loved reading this book, I don't know why it took me so long, because it was a really short and sweet read! I highly recommend to anyone who wants to reconnect with their inner child, it's also a fabulous book to read to children if you're looking for a bit more of an original and sensible story.
January 15, 2022
Trucks rumbling over Wimbledon Common are causing the burrow to crumble. With attempted military precision, the Wombles plan a mission to find a new home. One team is sent to Scotland and comes across the Loch Ness monster and Cairngorm MacWomble. But the housing problem is solved when Uncle Bulgaria pulls a favour from the British royal family (with whom he shares a surname), and is granted a new burrow in Hyde Park.
In this book we learn some more about the original burrow (that it has about 250 inhabitants) and about Bulgaria’s royal family tree (he has a great-great-great Uncle Hohenzollern). There’s also another incident of class anxiety with squirrels, who shout rudely at Bungo.
We can admire and enjoy some of the Wombles’ characteristics. However, in terms of the environmental slogan, they act locally but don’t think globally. The trucks destroying their burrow are just a given: there’s no attempt to analyse the problem. And Bulgaria says “In the years to come there won’t be any fields left, but I shall be dead and gone by then so it won’t worry me.”
In this book we learn some more about the original burrow (that it has about 250 inhabitants) and about Bulgaria’s royal family tree (he has a great-great-great Uncle Hohenzollern). There’s also another incident of class anxiety with squirrels, who shout rudely at Bungo.
We can admire and enjoy some of the Wombles’ characteristics. However, in terms of the environmental slogan, they act locally but don’t think globally. The trucks destroying their burrow are just a given: there’s no attempt to analyse the problem. And Bulgaria says “In the years to come there won’t be any fields left, but I shall be dead and gone by then so it won’t worry me.”
January 28, 2023
A very cozy book I used to love as a kid, and equally so now. The show was oddly popular in South Africa, and I like to think my aunt moved to Wimbledon because of it. Reminds me of all the walks around the common with my cousins!
October 11, 2021
Very exiting
April 6, 2022
I enjoyed this a lot more than the first book--it's got much more of a story and it's quite sweet. I don't like the continual comments on how Orinoco needs to lose weight, however.
April 24, 2023
Just loving re-reading childhood favorites that are still as good as I remember them. Wombles are my tribe.
October 25, 2023
Simon (aged 8) says I think it's fun and great.
November 26, 2023
The first book introduced the Wombles, while this second book had more of a storyline, and expanded the Womble lore. This is definitively a book to read when one wants a cozy, comfort read.
December 31, 2023
bbc audio Richard Grant narrator
February 9, 2012
I selected the ebook edition for this even though I read it in paperback form - my paperback has this cover, and the only edition listed that showed it was the ebook one...
This is the second Wombles book, and I happened to spot it on W H Smith's 'Sale!' shelf priced at £2, just as I was re-reading its predecessor for the first time in who knows how long, so I decided to buy it in the name of serendipity.
The copy I read so many times as a kid was considerably tattier than this one - I believe it was a school library cast off, brought home for my sister and me by our primary teacher Mum - but I'd remembered it with some affection. Very much enjoyed revisiting the Wombles' quest to find somewhere new to settle after their Wimbledon burrow begins to suffer from the consequences of ever heavier traffic around the Common. Reading as an adult with all the joys of hindsight, I enjoyed the passages describing the bumbling, makeshift-military fashion in which Great Uncle Bulgaria and Tobermory organise their endeavours all the more as I recognised their echoes of Dad's Army, and the officious pomposity of the Captain Mainwarings of this world. Nostalgia a-go-go!
This is the second Wombles book, and I happened to spot it on W H Smith's 'Sale!' shelf priced at £2, just as I was re-reading its predecessor for the first time in who knows how long, so I decided to buy it in the name of serendipity.
The copy I read so many times as a kid was considerably tattier than this one - I believe it was a school library cast off, brought home for my sister and me by our primary teacher Mum - but I'd remembered it with some affection. Very much enjoyed revisiting the Wombles' quest to find somewhere new to settle after their Wimbledon burrow begins to suffer from the consequences of ever heavier traffic around the Common. Reading as an adult with all the joys of hindsight, I enjoyed the passages describing the bumbling, makeshift-military fashion in which Great Uncle Bulgaria and Tobermory organise their endeavours all the more as I recognised their echoes of Dad's Army, and the officious pomposity of the Captain Mainwarings of this world. Nostalgia a-go-go!
July 5, 2022
Another adventure from those famous Wombles. This time, the burrow is under threat leading to some travels. I really enjoyed this book and loved Bungo and Orinoco's adventures in bonny Scotland.
Would recommend this book heartily to anyone, as there were both funny and sad moments and the story kept me absorbed throughout.
Would recommend this book heartily to anyone, as there were both funny and sad moments and the story kept me absorbed throughout.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2013
Like English Moomins! Love these vegetarian, pacifist, green little creatures and all their charming ways
November 25, 2014
Oh this was so much fun to read! As wonderfully comforting and pleasant for adults as it is for children.
Shelved as 'general-fiction'
March 5, 2019FIC
BER
BER
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews