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One Woolly Wombat
Humorous illustrations depict fourteen Australian animals, introduced in rhyme, along with the numbers from one to fourteen
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
December 9, 2014
A very simple numbers book for young children. Each number is set to an Australian wildlife animal so one can either enjoy seeing their local wildlife if they live their or they can learn what animals live there. The illustrations are fun and playful. Each page is one sentence and they rhyme for the most part although some are a bit weak. Still, a fun book for counting up to 14.
December 22, 2021
Fun to read aloud. Lots of things happening in the illustrations. High re-readability for a counting book.
March 23, 2025
Very cute.
September 24, 2009
Like many of the early 1980s Australian children's books this is over-the-top Australian. I'm putting this book in the same category as Possum Magic, Wombat Stew, Sail Away The Ballad of Skip and Nell, Edward the Emu, etc. These books celebrated that, except for some notable exceptions, Australians were for the first time able to share Aussie picture books with their kids. But by the same token I don't think this is purely a celebration of Australian stories. I'm sure the export market for cute Australian animals was a huge contributing factor to these stories being produced - particularly after the success of the "throw another shrimp on the barbie" tourist campaign in the US starting in 1984.
It is good to see local stories reflected in the what you see and read - a summer Christmas, Australian animals, etc. But lots of times these books feel a little self-conscious and portraying a cliched view (ala Crocodile Dundee, and more recently the Crocodile Hunter), rather than truely reflecting Australian life.
But anyway off that rant.
This is a cute counting book - with beautiful illustrations featuring Australian animals, plants and landscapes.
Something unusual is that this book keeps counting after it reaches ten - hitting the heady heights of 14!
When ever I see the Goanna Recipes book in the '9' illustration - I always think they are recipes for eating goanna, rather than recipes for what a goanna would like to eat!
It is good to see local stories reflected in the what you see and read - a summer Christmas, Australian animals, etc. But lots of times these books feel a little self-conscious and portraying a cliched view (ala Crocodile Dundee, and more recently the Crocodile Hunter), rather than truely reflecting Australian life.
But anyway off that rant.
This is a cute counting book - with beautiful illustrations featuring Australian animals, plants and landscapes.
Something unusual is that this book keeps counting after it reaches ten - hitting the heady heights of 14!
When ever I see the Goanna Recipes book in the '9' illustration - I always think they are recipes for eating goanna, rather than recipes for what a goanna would like to eat!
January 22, 2014
An unashamedly Australian rhyming counting book, this is a lovely way to teach children about both numbers and Australian animals. The 'three warbling magpies waking up the sun' visit our home every morning to do just that (and wake us up too so they can be fed!). Full of fun little incidental details, like gumnut blossom wallpaper and teacups and lamingtons!
April 17, 2020
My son was more enthusiastic about this book than my previous review two years (plus) ago (see below).
My son was not as excited about this book as I would have liked him to be.
My son was not as excited about this book as I would have liked him to be.
May 4, 2017
It's a very simplistic, rhyming Australian kids book. I got my copy at Brookfield Zoo (a rather random book to find in Chicago) when I was a wee lass in the early 1980s. It's one of the very few things that I kept from my childhood (though I'm confident my mother probably has more stuff squirreled away somewhere). It's not some masterpiece in children's lit, but it was my favorite book when I was little and now I read it to my daughter several times a week.
May 11, 2018
Possibly the best book for infant children's numeracy, Aus fauna education and enhancing literature for young children. A 'masterpiece' by 'Rinascimento' author and artist Rod Trinca. Bravo !! I have given it to all my family and friends who have had children. They all say their kids love it and ask for it at bedtime. It's an Australian classic for very good reason. Even my foreign parent friends love it, as do their kids.
May 8, 2017
one woolly wombat sunning by the sea two cuddly koalas sipping gumnut tea
and so on to fourteen
A now-classic Australian counting book, featuring native animals and other features of the Australian landscape and lifestyle (bush, lamingtons, and some flora)
A good choice for a counting book (also going beyond the traditional 10) for Aussie and non-Aussie kids alike.
and so on to fourteen
A now-classic Australian counting book, featuring native animals and other features of the Australian landscape and lifestyle (bush, lamingtons, and some flora)
A good choice for a counting book (also going beyond the traditional 10) for Aussie and non-Aussie kids alike.
April 19, 2020
A pretty average counting book. It is more ‘Aussie’ than most counting books, but to be honest it’s not one I’d rave about.
April 19, 2020
An undeniably Aussie counting book that is simple but very sweet. Kerry Argent's illustrations are, as always, thoroughly delightful.
July 14, 2021
The tiny details in the illustrations are beautiful. I particular liked the 9 hungry goannas looking up recipes in Cookery The Goanna Way.
July 25, 2021
A counting book in rhyme featuring Australian animals- something different than your usual cow, duck, sheep, etc.
May 31, 2022
Library for the win, simple and cute counting book to read. I enjoyed the details beside the pictures to represent the numbers in a second way.
January 23, 2025
A very sweet children's book. Loved the different animals.
March 15, 2017
This was given to us by a family friend who cherished it as a childhood favorite, and now I know why! This is such a simple, delightful book. It's truly sad that it's no longer in print.
March 8, 2010
My two youngest really liked this. The illustrations are very cute and the text mostly flows well. It's a counting book (up to 14). I'm not sure why they stop at 14. Weird. And the pictures they show at the bottom to help them count are often crowded together making it difficult for little guys to count each one.
Cute, not necessary. Really it's best used if the older siblings are studying Australia because it helps the littles feel like they have an Australia book too. It's not one I would buy, but would check out if the library had it.
Cute, not necessary. Really it's best used if the older siblings are studying Australia because it helps the littles feel like they have an Australia book too. It's not one I would buy, but would check out if the library had it.
January 15, 2016
Just found this at the library. I fondly remember it from my childhood. I'd thought I remembered a whole story about all these Aussie animals but having found the book and checked the internet I see I must have been mistaken. The book I found is a board book and it only goes up to 10 animals (maybe they realised 14 was a strange number to stop at?). Anyway, I love the illustrations, the Aussie cliches ... most of our books are about jungle, farm or English animals (we read a lot of Julia Donaldson) so it's refreshing to discuss animals from our own country instead.
December 4, 2015
A counting and rhyming book with Australian animals. The numbers go up to 14, which seems like a strange number to stop at. There were objects lined up in a row at the bottom of each page to count but they were sometimes too squished together for young kids to count easily. One page had pliers which overlapped each other to count which would be confusing because some kids may count the handles. Other than that a cute number book with icons of Australia cleverly included throughout.
October 12, 2013
Counting book with good rhythm and rhyme, using a Australian animals. The design of each spread follows the same clean pattern with a line of text (half of a rhyming couplet) beginning with the next number, illustrations come to life by breaking out of their rectangular borders, and one of the objects from the illustration shown the same number of times as the word in the text.
March 3, 2009
This is our favorite lunchtime read! My kids love to have this one read to them. The pictures are great and bright vibrant colors. I am asked to read it again and again while they munch their lunch.
January 9, 2011
This Australian counting book would be great for a lesson on animals living in different regions. All the animals in this book are Australian, and there were some critters I wasn't even familiar with! From a primary teaching perspective, it's nice to see a counting book that goes higher than ten.
October 14, 2011
This book is a unique counting book featuring Austrailian animals, however, the counting randomly stops at 14. The pictures are funny. The animals interesting. Its just wierd that the counting stops at 14.
April 26, 2010
This is all right. It'd be more interesting for children living in, or visiting Australia. The illustrations are nice, though. :)
March 17, 2016
A 1001 CBYMRBYGU. Brilliant number-animal book that never condescends to its (mostly) young audience. Wombats. Echidnas. Dingoes. Cockatoos. Clever pictures as well.
June 11, 2011
An interesting picture book to add to your collection. Showing cute Australian animals, the author does a nice job of introducing counting with great illustrations. A great storytime book.
August 9, 2011
This is a concept counting book that stars animals native to Australia. May be a nice supplement if early elementary teacher is doing a lesson plan on this part of the world.
April 28, 2015
A cute and sometimes funny counting book with colorful illustrations of Australian animals.
November 13, 2012
Great illustrations and a lovely numbers/counting book. I was perplexed that it went to 14 but I am so glad that it wasn't a prescriptive 10.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews