Wombles

The Wombles is the first ever Wombles book and introduces the stern but kindly Great Uncle Bulgaria; Orinoco, who is particularly fond of his food and a subsequent forty winks; general handyman extraordinaire Tobermory, who can turn almost anything that the Wombles retrieve from Wimbledon Common into something useful; Madame Cholet, who cooks the most delicious and natural foods to keep the Wombles happy and contented; and last but not least, Bungo, one of the youngest and cheekiest Wombles of all...

The Wombles live in a beautifully snug, well-ordered and cosy burrow underneath Wimbledon Common - the perfect base from which to sort and recycle all the rubbish that unthinking humans constantly drop. But the Wombles' peaceful and harmonious existence is suddenly under threat. The heavy lorries that thunder along the roads near the Common make the burrow shake and tremble so much that it is no longer safe for the Wombles to live there.

There has been a huge festival and no end of rubbish has been left behind - everything from sunglasses to shoes, drinks cans and bottles. Who would have thought humans could leave so much behind, not bothering to recycle? The Wombles have their work cut out for them.

Orinoco is certainly the tubbiest of the Wombles and is perhaps the Womble who needs the most encouragement to go out on the daily sortie to clear up and recycle all the rubbish that humans leave behind... Meanwhile, Tobermory, DIY-er extraordinaire, is getting to grips with the one of the humans' more ingenious inventions: the vacuum cleaner!

The Wombles have just gratefully returned to their burrow on Wimbledon Common. They had had to leave because heavy lorries thundering up and down the nearby road threatened to make the roof of the burrow cave in. However, now that the Wombles are safely back, there is another problem they have to contend with. It seems that the humans have realised they have an energy crisis and are throwing much less away. The Wombles' supplies begin to run low. What can the Wombles do? It is time for EMERGENCY SPECIAL PROJECTS - with DIY king Tobermory in charge!

Great Uncle Bulgaria loves telling the ancient and revered history of the Womble clans to the younger Wombles. But to his great sadness he notices that the young Wombles are not nearly as interested in the history as he is. So Great Uncle Bulgaria decides to take action and show these young Wombles how wonderful - and international - the history of the Wombles is. Tobermory invents some very eco-friendly clockwork air balloons to travel in and Orinoco, Bungo, Tomsk and Wellington are sent variously to America, Tibet and Australia.

Snow has arrived on Wimbledon Common! The young Wombles, including Bungo, Orinoco and Tomsk, can't wait to start sledging, making snow Wombles and generally having fun in the snow. Then one particular Womble decides to play a snowy trick on the small Wombles.