So, I have been reading about the wombles. For those of you who do not know who the wombles are, they are gentle, furry creatures who live on Wimbledon Common in London, and collect and recycle all the rubbish that humans leave behind. There are a series of books about the wombles and their various adventures, and they were originally written in the 70s. They are children's books, but beautifully written, and very suitable for all ages. The wombles in England are led by Great Uncle Bulgaria, the oldest of the wombles. All wombles are named after place names, so you have Orinoco who loves food, and does a lot of thinking and resting, Tobermory, who takes all the rubbish that the other wombles find, and recycles it, Madame Cholet who is the much-loved chef, and many others. There is even a womblegarten for the youngest wombles. These books are so clever, and have wonderful insights, such as "cor blimey", frequently said by Tomsk, which actually means God blame me.
The book I have just read is called "The wombles go round the world" and it is about the wombles travelling around the world to other womble burrows to create a new volume of the womble history. Their experiences are so brave and exciting, and the tales so creative! Four of the wombles travel in two hot air balloons to America, Japan, Germany, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand, experiencing the wonders of the world and collecting stories and recipes to share with the rest of the wombles in Wimbledon. They are lovely stories, but they also have such strong messages for today's world, and it appears that we have learned nothing about protecting the environment in the past forty years. Womble wisdom! Here is a quote "Our big problem is the objects we tidy up, most of which are some sort of plastic. Plastic is not an easy kind of material to make good use of." Further on in the book, they talk about the issues with air pollution. So sad, that forty years on, we are still using plastic and polluting the air. I wish these books could be read in every primary school so that perhaps the next generation can take better care of our planet. Better still, I wish it could be compulsory reading for the decision-makers of this world.
