The Wombles - Children's Novels

Children's Novels

There were five novels:

• The Wombles (1968)
• The Wandering Wombles (1970)
• The Wombles at Work (1973)
• The Wombles to the Rescue (1974)
• The Wombles Go Round the World (1976)

All of these were out of print for many years, but through 2010 and 2011 they were re-issued (along with the 1973 short-story collection The Invisible Womble) by Bloomsbury with all-new illustrations. The last two books are less well known than the original three, perhaps because they appeared after the successful television series began. In The Wandering Wombles, the setting moved from Wimbledon Common to Hyde Park in central London. However The Wombles to the Rescue saw them return to Wimbledon Common.

Four of the books were illustrated by Margaret Gordon. The Wombles at Work (1973) was illustrated by Barry Leith. The appearance of the Wombles in the books followed the design of the Ivor Wood TV puppets, with the exception of The Wombles (1968) which preceded the TV series and depicted the Wombles as teddy bear-like creatures.

Wombles appearing in the books included:

• Great Uncle Bulgaria
• Tobermory
• Madame Cholet
• Miss Adelaide
• Tomsk
• Bungo
• Orinoco
• Wellington
• Alderney
• Shansi

Additional Wombles included:

• Cousin Yellowstone
• Cairngorm the MacWomble
• Omsk
• Culvain
• Ness and her many sons (water Wombles)
• Cousin Botany
• Speyer and Heilbronn
• Frau Heidelberg
• Habsburg Von Hohenzollern Womble
• Ms Atlanta
• Idaho
• Dalai Gartok
• Nanking
• Cairns and Perth
• Great-Great Aunt M. Murrumbidgee
• Eucula
• Uncle Dunedin
• Cousin Tokyo
• Hirado
• Brian The Womble

Beresford also wrote a collection of short stories entitled The Invisible Womble and Other Stories (1973), in which the original Wimbledon Common setting was restored. Although based on episodes from the TV series, these stories occasionally refer to events in the novels.

In addition to these books, a great many annuals, picture-books and children's early readers have been published over the years, some of which were also written by Elisabeth Beresford.