Christmas Wombat - Tapa dura

Christmas comes but once a year, and it's just as well for Santa's reindeer, who have to fight with Mothball for the carrots left out for them by the local children. And when Mothball takes an unexpected sleigh ride, it's not just Santa who faces the prospect of getting stuck in the chimney. Christmas from a wombat's eye view is always going to be interesting - especially when that wombat is Mothball. Ages: 3+

Jackie French is a full-time writer who lives near Braidwood in the Araluen Valley, NSW. In 2000, Hitler's Daughter was awarded the CBC Younger Readers' Award. To the Moon and Back won the Eve Pownall Award in 2005. Macbeth and Son, and Josephine Wants to Dance were both shortlisted for the 2007 CBC Awards. Bruce Whatley is one of Australia's best-loved and most-respected author-illustrators. His most recent books include the enormously successful and award-winning Diary of a Wombat, written by Jackie French, and its companion volume, The Secret World of Wombats, also illustrated by Bruce. The best selling team have also collaborated on Pete the Sheep, and most recently, Josephine Wants to Dance. Two of Bruce's previous books, The Ugliest Dog in the World and Tails from Grandad's Attic, were named as Notable Books by the Children's Book Council of Australia in 1993 and 1996 respectively. Looking for Crabs was shortlisted by the Children's Book Council in 1993 and Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase was named an Honour Book by the Children's Book Council in 1998. Bruce has illustrated forty books to date, including a number that he has co-written with Rosie Smith. Their latest collaboration was Little White Dogs Can't Jump.