Little Mates: Worrying Will; Xylophone Xavier

Little Mates: Worrying Will by Susannah McFarlane, illustrated by Lachlan Creagh (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $4.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-740-6
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Little Mates: Xylophone Xavier by Susannah McFarlane, illustrated by Lachlan Creagh (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $4.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-741-3
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Little Mates, the fun alliterative Australian series, is getting close to the end of the alphabet. The two newest books feature Will, a worry wombat and Xavier, a swordfish who loves to explore.

In Worrying Will, this worrisome wombat worries about everything from water consumption, to wonky wheelbarrows, to what to wear. And when he worries, he wobbles and gets lots of wrinkles. And there is nothing more adorable than Creagh’s illustrations of a wombat with wrinkles. Unless it’s his illustration of Whitney working on Will’s wrinkles ... with a rolling pin. Once again, it’s friendship to the rescue as Will’s friends rally around to help him work through all his worries.



I was looking forward to seeing how the trickier letters at the end of the alphabet would be treated and Xylophone Xavier did not disappoint.

Xavier is a swordfish (xiphius gladius) who loves to explore and collect xylophones of all sizes, from XS to XXL. Join Xavier and his friends in this tongue twisting adventure – their most excellent and exciting one yet.


Little Mates are fun with clever wording and distinctively colourful and busy illustrations. This is a great series for young children, full of Australian animals with boundless curiosities and large personalities in a tiny book format.