Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/01/2022 Deedy’s cautionary tale, which featuring six native Australian animals, reveals the possible risks of being too welcoming and thoughtful. A wildfire is burning near Wombat’s burrow, so he decides to hunker down until the danger has passed. Just as the marsupial is about to enjoy some tea and cookies under his crazy quilt, Wallaby arrives, pleading for a safe spot away from the blaze. Wombat graciously invites his friend in, only for Wallaby to grab the quilt and lie on the couch where Wombat was planning to sit and read. “No worries,” Wombat thinks, until Kookaburra appears and immediately commandeers Wombat’s comfy chair. Children will get a kick out of poor Wombat’s attempts to ride out the wildfire calmly only to be interrupted time and again by his friends. Lies’ entertaining and richly colored acrylics and colored-pencil illustrations—including a bonus cutaway displaying Wombat’s snug three-level underground abode—feature a variety of perspectives while showing Wombat’s potential peace and quiet as it’s severely impacted by unexpected (and rather messy) houseguests. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 12/01/2022 PreS-Gr 3—Wombat is not worried that a fire is in the air. He is about to settle into his comfy chair with his slippers and a cup of tea when one by one his animal friends—a platypus, koala, kookaburra, wallaby, and sugar glider—frantically enter and unsettle his peaceful abode. He bids them welcome with the repeated phrase, "Come in! Come in! From smoke and din and howling wind, come in, my friend, come in!" The friends are all welcome, but when at last the air clears, Wombat is less than gentle in his urgency to send his house guests on their way. The illustrations capture the characters in their various states of distress, and Deedy's language welcomes all readers and listeners into a story that celebrates friendship and tolerance. Children will enjoy the wombat quiz that precedes the story, and they will root for each adorable creature as they find a way into Wombat's home, some more peacefully than others. Much different in tone from the less-anthropomorphized Australian wildfire story, Wombat Underground, this title focuses on the universal need for comfort and tolerance in the face of adverse situations. VERDICT Welcoming those in distress, be they friends or strangers, is a message that benefits all students. This title does just that with charming and humorous detail in both words and pictures.—John Scott - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.