Author: Jackie French

Illustrator: Bruce Whatley

Publisher/Year: Clarion Books, 2002 & 2003

Pages: 30

Genre: Fiction

Analysis

The Diary of a Wombat follows the daily activities and spontaneous discoveries of a young wombat over the course of one week. For each day of the week, activities are categorized under morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The wombat’s daily movements, such as eating, sleeping, and scratching, are intermixed with more humorous adventures such as digging holes and attacking laundry.

The Diary of a Wombat indirectly functions as a mirror. Children can see that, although the wombat is an animal, his life is not so very different. The wombat sleeps and eats just like them, has likes and dislikes, gets into mischief, and shares similar needs and wants (i.e. shelter, attention, love). French’s book also functions as a window. By seeing that the daily life of a wombat, or any animal for that matter, is similar to their own lives, children may realize that their friends and neighbors, though different by race or religion, share similar habits as well. The Diary of a Wombat also provides a model for good behavior. The wombat is an active character: always doing, finding, or creating new things around him. The wombat also wants to be closer to others (human neighbors) because he finds their company helpful and enjoyable.

In The Diary of a Wombat, the power rests with the wombat because he trains his human neighbors to reward him with carrots and oats. Whatley depicts these neighbors as a nuclear and stereotypical white family of two parents and two children who live in a two story house. Although the family represents the white norm, it is not significant enough in the plot to influence a child’s understanding of families. What stands front and center is the similarity between wombats and children (humans).

The brief but spunky language of the wombat helps him appear like a playful and relatable character. The wombat, like humans, has a daily routine, incomplete without sleeping and eating. The multiple illustrations on each page and the occasional two page spread illustrate the sequence of activities that make up the wombat’s daily life. Unframed illustrations allow young readers to feel involved in the wombat’s shenanigans and make it easier for children to relate their own life to that of the wombat. Whatley’s illustrations of the wombat at all different angles show how he is a multi-faceted and spunky individual. Although the diary portrays the wombat as innocent and imperfect, French’s picture book conveys an underlying sense of exploitation. The wombat learns to demand food from neighbors and sometimes makes noise until fed. Not only does this mock how humans have similarly trained animals for their own means, but it may encourage children that persistent whining will get them what they want.