Welcome, Wombat + Giveaway

Hi, everyone.

Usually I try to be upbeat here, but today is going to be a little sombre. Why?

Well, because I’ve been wanting, for a long time, to write a lovely, cheerful post about my daughter’s ongoing love of wombats, her unshaken love of marsupials of all kinds– and the news from Australia has been, in a word, terrible.

I’m heartbroken, and the long, laughing post in my head has contracted into an appeal for help. Wildlife in Australia is going through a hard time, as I’m sure you all know. I can’t bear to link to the articles, so I’m not going to. You can find plenty of information out there if you want to look.

Instead, I’m going to give you some reassuring news, and some charity links, and a giveaway.

I have more reviews on the back burner: real, meaty reviews for you. I have plans to tell you about. But today? One brief, heartfelt appeal and giveaway to sweeten the deal for you.

Let’s start with a rescue organization which is blessedly spared the worst of the fire: When I heard of the fires and devastation, my first thought was, “Please not Sleepy Burrows!”

Sleepy Burrows is a rescue sanctuary for wombats who are affected badly by many factors– and are written about in one of the Changeling’s favourite books, Welcome, Wombat by Kama Einhorn. That book is a wonderful source of information about wombats, how they grow, how unique they are, and the conflicts that humans run into in such a special environment as Australia (and, we can extrapolate– many other places on earth).

My daughter loves this book: she takes it with her on every vacation, she reads it at night until she falls asleep, and we hear about Sleepy Burrows all day every day! Sleepy Burrows gets royalties, by the way, from sales of the book.

So we are glad that, so far, Sleepy Burrows has been spared the worst of the impact of these fires.

Other animals, as we know, have not been so lucky. Koalas are faring badly. On Kangaroo Island the dunnart is doing badly. I won’t go on. We are grateful that Sleepy Burrows is OK for now, but– Here are some links for you:

a) The wonderful Sophie Blackall is holding a fundraiser, donating all proceeds from her print for Wombat Walkabout (a book I must get for my daughter!) to rescue efforts: follow her link here. (NB: I cannot afford this right now, but anyone who wants to get a print for my daughter sure is welcome!)

b) For those, like me, who can’t afford that gorgeous print, the organization she pledges to help is WIRES.

c) MY PLEDGE: I will host a giveaway here for those who donate to WIRES. There are going to be TWO PRIZES, so TWO WINNERS: 1 copy of Welcome, Wombat, described above; and 1 special wombat t-shirt inspired by the wonderful Blunderbuss, the scrap yarn combat-wombat from Catherynne Valente’s Fairyland series.

DETAILS: Donate $20 or more to WIRES. Email me at deborah@childrensbookroom.com with your donation information, and tell me whether you want to be entered for the book or t-shirt (or, you know, maybe you’re happy with either one!).

I WILL SEND THE BOOK/T-SHIRT ANYWHERE, WORLDWIDE. SHIPPING IS ON ME.

Deadline: One week today, January 14, 2020. I will draw randomly from any donors, and will send you my heartfelt thanks.

Reminder: 1 book, 1 shirt of any size or colour. Deadline: January 14, 2020. Please donate to WIRES.

Thank you from me, from my daughter, from the animals.