Sam and Albert Go To Sea; Finding Sheeko; The Strange Car; The Prodigal Ute

Sam and Albert Go To Sea by Louise Elliott (Wombat Books)

PB RRP $7.95

ISBN 9781921633089


Finding Sheeko by Marion Wall (Wombat Books)

PB RRP $6.95

ISBN 9781921633133

The Strange Car by Paul Clark,
illustrated by Graham Preston (Wombat Books)

PB RRP $5.95

The Prodigal Ute by Paul Clark,                                           
illustrated by Graham Preston (Wombat Books)
PB RRP $5.95

All books reviewed by Elizabeth Quinn

Publishing newcomer Wombat Books has produced a series of four titles marketed as Wombat Joeys – Early Readers for Little Wombats. Two of the four (The Prodigal Ute and The Strange Car) form a sub-series called The Car Park Parables, using cars as characters in tales from the New Testament. A third (Finding Sheeko) tells the story of a baby orangutan who, while searching for his lost mother, becomes disoriented and is finally rescued by carers at an orangutan orphanage.

The illustrations (especially those of the parables) enhance the storylines, and the depiction of Jesus as a jeans-wearing, short-haired, beardless Everyman in The Strange Car is refreshing, and helps to lighten up the subject matter.

The fourth title in the series, Sam and Albert Go to Sea, is the tale of an old man of the sea and his cat. The illustrations are simple but appealing, depicting a barefoot, wild-haired elderly gent and a cat whose expressive face registers his gradual loss of patience with his land-locked sailor friend.

“YOU ARE A SAILOR AND I AM A SHIP’S CAT, SO WE HAVE TO GO TO SEA!” are Sam’s final words after a week of excuses. And go to sea they do, with much fun had by all. Sam and Albert Go to Sea is a tale of friendship, told simply. The Wombat Joey series shows great promise for future endeavours.