Wombats! Go Camping is the first book in the new graphic novel series: Wombats!

The story is aimed at 6-9-year-olds.

The story begins with our two lead wombats, Albert calling Pickles to see if he's ready for their camping trip and asking if he's remembered all his essentials and packed lightly. Pickles answers yes, and is excited and enthusiastic for the trip to begin.

When Pickles arrives at Albert's house, with a full load of luggage to begin the trip to the woods, we see that there is a slight communication difference. Pickles's idea of camping is actually more like glamping. Albert tries to explain the difference: camping is getting out into nature and enjoying the great outdoors, while glamping is more like staying at a resort and pretending to camp.

Pickles is feeling deflated about the whole experience but is still willing to try to give it a go. That is until everything starts to go wrong: he has problems setting up his tent, there are only beans for dinner and, as he feels all his expectations have been shattered, his beloved jar of pickles gets knocked over into the mud by a frog. So he goes crying to Albert.

Here's where things begin to get really interesting, for Albert mentions that there is something on Pickles's butt. That in turn freaks him out and sends him on a running frenzy through the woods when he realizes it's a creature of some sort. As he repeatedly screams "Please don't bite my butt!" he trips over a tree root and hits the ground. Albert is right there to make sure he's OK and remove the animal.

As Albert does so, Pickles refuses to open his eyes until it's gone. When he does see the critter, he falls head over heels with its adorableness, since the little guy turns out to be a baby koala bear. He begins to sing and play with it and decides he wants to keep it, until Albert reminds him the baby may well be missing its mama and its mama will be missing it as well. So off they go on an adventure to try to locate the mama koala.

While out looking, they run across warning signs, saying, "Beware of the Woolly Moon Beast", to which the baby keeps pointing and saying "Mama!" Thinking the baby is just confused, Pickles is ready to sit back and wait while letting Albert continue the quest. Albert is worried that Pickles might miss some amazing things if that happens, but Pickles is convinced that there is nothing in nature that is amazing. Albert reminds him of all the wonderful things in nature and thinks that Pickles just hasn't had that special moment yet that makes him feel alive. Convinced by Albert, Pickles is ready to get back to their quest.

Along the way, they find their friend and neighbor, Platters the platypus, hiding in the bushes, on a stakeout to find the Woolly Moon Beast. They continue on together and locate the cave of the Moon Beast, which is across a lake with no bridge, and they are undecided on what to do and how best to get there, while the baby koala still insists that the moon beast is its mother.

At this point, dear readers, I think I'll leave you to figure out what happens next. Do our characters find the Woolly Moon Beast? Is the beast the baby's mother? Does Pickle ever find his special moment? These are all things you will discover when you pick up a copy of Wombats! Go Camping.

I really got a kick out of this graphic novel. It's well-written and the illustrations are bright and colorful, full of wonderful details. The characters are fun and engaging and I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

This is a book I will happily share with my younger grandchildren, whom I know will enjoy it as much as I did, and that pleases this grandmother's heart. ~~ Dee Astell