Wombat Stew by Marcia K Vaughan is an Australian classic of a bunch of outback Australian animals duping a dingo into thinking he’s making a delicious wombat stew, when they’re actually saving their mate.
Quick Takes
- Readability – Just there for Agent B (6 years old)
- Reading time – ~8 minutes
- Adventure Boyz Rating – 8.5/10
- Perfect for – Aussie animal lovers, kids who like cheeky stories, ages 4-8
What Makes It A Favourite?
It’s a book that continues to build. Each animal adds their (deceptive) input into ‘bettering’ the wombat stew. The illustrations of the cackling dingo and unimpressed, cunning Australian animals are a hoot.
Dad’s Take
It is early days in our blogging journey, but this could be the best Aussie book we have on our list. We received this as gift a few Christmas’s ago and have read it many times since. It is a book you can read at face value – it really is about a dingo who wants to make a wombat stew, and accepts the advice of his hoodwinking animal buddies. Spoiler alert – the wombat stew does not go the way he wants it to.
The Kids’ Take
Agent C enjoyed the Australian animals who double crossed the otherwise mean and ignorant dingo.
Agent B liked the build up at the end (spoiler alert) where the animals tell the dingo to stop and taste the stew, ultimately saving the wombat.
Buy or Borrow It?
Buy. This is an Aussie favourite for us and we have been glad to revisit it again and again.