I do need to be completely upfront with you about something before I begin the official review of Riley and The Grumpy Wombat-A Journey Around Melbourne; I was always going to love this book. I’m a Melbourne enthusiast after all.
Riley and the Grumpy Wombat thoroughly deserves my admiration though, and not just because it’s set in Melbourne. It is fun, colorful, and filled with adventure.
Riley and the Grumpy Wombat is the fourth book in the Riley the Little Aviator Series. Riley is in Melbourne visiting his Nanny. While playing in the backyard with his friends they discover a grumpy wombat living in a burrow, and she’s certainly not happy to have been bothered by them. Off she scurries, quite quickly in fact, to hide.
Riley is a typical child: curious, adventurous, helpful, and imaginative. He heads out in his iconic red plane, with his friends and an endless supply of fan-dangled contraptions, in search of that wombat. They search the mountains, coastlines, and city streets of Melbourne and Victoria, from Phillip Island to Lygon Street. They discover all sorts of burrows, but none inhabit the grumpy wombat.
Riley and the Grumpy Wombat features gorgeous black-and-white photos of Melbourne and its surroundings, which Tania has sourced from a range of photographers (including herself). The photos are overlaid with Kieron Pratt’s adorable and humorous cartoon-like illustrations of Riley and his friends. The photographs show the geography of Melbourne but it’s the illustrations that show how Riley and his friends partake in Melbourne’s culture and lifestyle. They’ve certainly taken quite a liking to the coffee of Carlton (but haven’t we all?)
When Riley finally returns to his Nanny’s house, feeling a little unsuccessful, he finds that the grumpy wombat has built herself a magnificent mud villa in the backyard. It seems this wombat was just sick of living in a dark, dank burrow.
This book appeals to my two year old daughter, so it’s bound to entertain children of all ages. It will also challenge them. Tania has adopted some sophisticated language throughout the book, using words such as cantankerous, unfurled, hifalutin, and desperation. The vocabulary is well supported by an accessible storyline and dynamic illustrations though, helping children add rich and creative words to their vocabularies. Tania has modeled a wide range of sentence structures in the story too (The teacher in me just loves that. I love encouraging kids to break out with their writing and try something different like beginning a sentence with an adjective or a verb).
It’s relevant to share with you because it relates to how we interact with this book, that I take my daughter to Melbourne as often as possible. She loves catching the train to Flinders Street Station and running amok through the open space of Federation Square. Needless to say, these are her two favorite pages. Our reading of Riley and the Grumpy Wombat is often put on hold so she can tell me all about our visits to these places and what we did there. Instantly, through the thoughtful use of real places and actual photographs, my daughter shares something in common with the leading character. I do believe Tania McCartney is trying to achieve a personal connection between the reader and the story with the travelogue style of her Riley The Little Aviator Series.
In previous books, Riley also visits Beijing, Hong Kong, and Sydney, and I’m sure he’ll be coming to your child’s city soon. If not, reading the Riley series is a novel way to visit the world without leaving the couch. Children get excited about Riley’s wonderful adventures but they also get to explore the world with him.
This is a must for children of Melbourne, kids who love writing, or those children who simply want to learn about new places. It is also a perfect souvenir of Melbourne. Funnily enough, Tania wrote her first Riley book as a souvenir for her children after their family posted in
Beijing.
If you do get your hands on a copy of this book, I suggest visiting these pages:
- Riley The Little Aviator has his blog. It is full of information, games, activities, and book trailers.
- Buzz Words– Tania McCartney shares some history and facts about the places featured in the book.
- My Little Bookcase– We get to know Grumpy Wombat a little bit better in a very funny interview.
- Kids’ Book Capers– Dee White interviews Riley.
Book Details:
Title: Riley and the Grumpy Wombat- A Journey Around Melbourne
Author: Tania McCartney
Illustrator: Kieron Pratt
ISBN: 978-1921665486
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Ford Street Publishing
Suitable for ages: 5+
