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The Wombles #3
The Wombles at work
Classic and much loved characters brought back into print with a fresh new cover look and inside illustrations to celebrate over 40 years of the Wombles After a huge festival, no end of rubbish has been left behind - everything from sunglasses to shoes, drinks cans and bottles. Who would have thought humans could leave so much behind, not bothering to recycle? The Wombles have their work cut out for them...
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 15, 2021
Emm... there was a new character introduced but they kind of just popped out of nowhere. There was no explanation to where they came from or why they ended up at Hyde Park. The ending was also a bit of a let down, it was built up throughout the whole book just for it to be a bit disappointing. However, I did enjoy myself, but not as much as the other books, it wasn't as funny or witty as the other ones but I did like the message of how important it is to pick up our litter and how it can have a damaging impact on the environment
November 25, 2015
Anybody who liked the first two books will probably enjoy this. Bungo as a hippy is quite entertaining, I liked Omsk's perspective on how the burrow is run, and there are some good recycling ideas in here. It's still miles ahead of its time in that respect - upcycling and re-using were very much minority activities in the early 1970s. It's with its time in respect of gender roles but that's not a criticism, who can criticise the Wombles?!
June 1, 2019
I loved it! Bit confused about Bungo’s hippy stage though...
April 3, 2023
As most readers already know, the Wombles are creatures that live underground and tidy up after litter dropping Human Beings. In this adventure, we are gently introduced to the cast of Wombles (and a swan!), as they are set the task of seeing who can come up with the best idea to tackle Pollu (pollution) to win a gold medal.
The story is well written, with kindly characters that are both endearing and aspiring, and who greatly appealed to my own litter picking child (who also has a fondness for creating new things with his finds). The chapters are quite long (too long to read one chapter per night), but my son was still able to easily follow the story. We will definitely now be seeking out more of the Wombles books. I liked the environmental themes of the book (don't drop litter, think about how things can be mended or re-used) which seem pertinent to current issues. It is hard to believe that this book was written bin the 1970's and yet these issues have not changed. So as well as being a well written story, this is also a great way to teach children the importance of looking after where you live.
The story is well written, with kindly characters that are both endearing and aspiring, and who greatly appealed to my own litter picking child (who also has a fondness for creating new things with his finds). The chapters are quite long (too long to read one chapter per night), but my son was still able to easily follow the story. We will definitely now be seeking out more of the Wombles books. I liked the environmental themes of the book (don't drop litter, think about how things can be mended or re-used) which seem pertinent to current issues. It is hard to believe that this book was written bin the 1970's and yet these issues have not changed. So as well as being a well written story, this is also a great way to teach children the importance of looking after where you live.
August 29, 2021
I know it's a kids book but the other wombles stories I've read are great comfort books and told with an eye to great storytelling. That knack seems to have abandoned the author here: what we get is a mess of random incidents with no seeming correlation or cause. Worst of all when a whole new character shows up out of nowhere for no reason after being trailed as a big mystery for much of the book.
December 3, 2023
I found this not as good as the first two Wombles books. It just couldn't hold my attention, with the story feeling like it wasn't really going anywhere, although I did find the incident with Bungo suddenly beginning a hippy quite amusing.
As with all Wombles stories, one of the big themes is pollution and rubbish. This story took that further than any of the previous books in the series, which for the time it was written was very forward thinking and proactive, if a little preachy.
As with all Wombles stories, one of the big themes is pollution and rubbish. This story took that further than any of the previous books in the series, which for the time it was written was very forward thinking and proactive, if a little preachy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2020
As with all Wombles books, a definite early environment warning, and this one even manages to predict the replacement of internal combustion cars, although in this case, the Wombles use clockwork rather than electric motors.
Read
July 2, 2019Where has Alderney gone????
April 11, 2022
Enjoyable, with a good message about pollution.
March 10, 2021
Another charming adventure from the Wombles. This book has them settling into their new home, and tackling the problem of pollution and littering, which is as topical today as it was when the book was first published.
I throughly enjoyed this adventure and I am looking forward to reading the next books in the series.
I throughly enjoyed this adventure and I am looking forward to reading the next books in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2012
Great Uncle Bulgaria comes up with a plan to increase the Wombles' tidying-up productivity: he declares The Womble Conservation Year and offers a prize for the Womble who comes up with the best idea to battle pollution. The Wombles eagerly start thinking up ways to defeat the great monster "Pollu" (as they nickname pollution), coming up with ideas regarding water pollution, air pollution and even smell pollution. The Wombles now live in Hyde Park, not Wimbledon Common, and all the action takes place there.
This is second Womble book I've read, the other being the first book in the series. I don't remember that book being quite so preachy or unsubtle in its conservation message. Elisabeth Beresford certainly was ahead of her time in her green interests, and this book was probably quite revolutionary for a children's book of the early 70s. But that doesn't make it good reading. The Wombles are a fascinating set of characters and there are some really great scenes in this book, but the constant anti-Pollu moralising could have been toned down quite a lot and been just as effective.
Another little quibble is the new character (who I can't say much about without giving away some of the plot). He is introduced in the second half of the book and is very intriguing, but we never find out much about him. How did he find the Wombles and why? We don't know. Perhaps all is revealed in another book, but it would have been nice to find out here.
This is second Womble book I've read, the other being the first book in the series. I don't remember that book being quite so preachy or unsubtle in its conservation message. Elisabeth Beresford certainly was ahead of her time in her green interests, and this book was probably quite revolutionary for a children's book of the early 70s. But that doesn't make it good reading. The Wombles are a fascinating set of characters and there are some really great scenes in this book, but the constant anti-Pollu moralising could have been toned down quite a lot and been just as effective.
Another little quibble is the new character (who I can't say much about without giving away some of the plot). He is introduced in the second half of the book and is very intriguing, but we never find out much about him. How did he find the Wombles and why? We don't know. Perhaps all is revealed in another book, but it would have been nice to find out here.
December 16, 2017
Read aloud to my son. A difficult read compared to The Wombles and The Wandering Wombles and I had no idea what was going on most of the time. Still can't get my head around the Wombles NOT living on Wimbledon Common - what WAS Elisabeth Beresford thinking. It still gets 3 stars just because it's the Wombles.
Shelved as 'general-fiction'
March 5, 2019FIC
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews