Wombat Divine facts for kids
21st anniversary edition cover of Wombat Divine
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| Author | Mem Fox |
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| Illustrator | Kerry Argent |
| Country | Australia |
| Genre | Children's illustrated fiction |
| Set in | Australia |
| Publisher | Omnibus Books |
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Publication date
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1995 |
| Pages | 32 |
| ISBN | 9780152020965 |
Wombat Divine is a fun children's book from 1995. It's a Christmas story written by Australian author Mem Fox and drawn by Kerry Argent. The book is about a young wombat who really wants to be in the yearly Nativity play. He worries he won't get a role, but in the end, he gets a very special part: the Christ Child. A special edition of the book came out in 2016 to celebrate its 21st birthday.
Story of Wombat Divine
Wombat has always dreamed of being in the annual Nativity play. When he is finally old enough, he tries out for every part. But he keeps getting turned down. People say he is "too big for some parts, too small for others, too short, too clumsy." Wombat starts to think his dream won't come true.
Luckily, "wise Emu" has a clever idea. Emu thinks that a sleepy Wombat would be perfect for the part of baby Jesus. Wombat agrees to play the role. He ends up being the star of the show because he falls asleep during the play, just like a real baby might!
Characters in the Story
Besides Wombat, the story features many other animals native to Australia. These include kangaroos, koalas, numbats, emus, bilbies, and platypuses.
How Wombat Divine Was Made
Wombat Divine was written by famous Australian children's author Mem Fox. The pictures were drawn by Kerry Argent. The idea for the book came from Fox's publisher, Omnibus Books. They asked her to write "a typically Australian Christmas story."
At first, Mem Fox wasn't sure she could do it. She had never written a book just because someone asked her to. Her publisher promised to help. They worked together for two years, but it was hard. Fox felt like she couldn't finish the project.
In a final attempt, her publisher suggested she "make a 32-page book and write the story in it." This idea helped Mem Fox a lot. She finally found a way to write the book.
Wombat Divine is 32 pages long and about 28 centimeters (11 inches) tall. It was first published in 1995 by Omnibus Books (ISBN: 9780152020965). Later, a 15th anniversary edition came out in 2009. A 21st anniversary edition was published on October 1, 2016, by Scholastic Australia (ISBN: 9781742991221).
