Although many know the Wombles from the television series, the series was based on the charming and well-written books that came first, originally published in 1968. Even now the Wombles' songs feature on YouTube, indicating the enduring appeal of these characters. Supported by an innovative publicity and marketing campaign Full-colour illustrations, by Nick Price, throughout Contains an abridged reading of three Wombles stories

'No kid should grow up without having the Wombles in their lives' The Bookbag 'Endearing adventures involving gathering and sorting rubbish, braving meetings with humans and dogs and, in the nicest possible way, making sure the world is a better place' Julia Eccleshare, Love Reading 4 Kids 'Time has not lessened their charm and children reading them for the first time will be delighted' The Scotsman 'Today's children will be as charmed as their parents by Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco, Bungo and Tobermory and their quest to recycle rubbish and put it to good use' Daily Express

Elisabeth Beresford first came up with the idea for the Wombles characters when walking on Wimbledon Common with her two children. She started sketching out the characters that day: Great Uncle Bulgaria was based on her father-in-law, Tobermory on her brother (an inventor), Orinoco on her son, and Madame Cholet on her mother. She hoped that the Wombles stories would encourage children to fight pollution and to think up ways of 'making good use of bad rubbish'. In fact, the Wombles so charmed the nation that they were chosen as the mascots for the Tidy Britain campaign. Since then they have had their own television series, first broadcast on Jackanory. Elisabeth Beresford was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature in 1998. Bernard Cribbins is the voice of the Wombles. He was recently awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2011 for his services to drama.