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  • Beresford, Elisabeth
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Elisabeth Beresford

Elisabeth Beresford first came up with the idea for the Womble 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 and she lived in Alderney, the Channel Islands. She died in December 2010.

Books

  • The Snow Womble

    The Snow Womble

    Author: Elisabeth Beresford Illustrator: Nick Price
    Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
    Interest age: 5+
    Reading age: 6+

    With a story taken from Elizabeth Beresford's first book, this picture book will bring favourite characters the Wombles to a new young audience.

  • The Wombles

    The Wombles

    Author: Elisabeth Beresford Illustrator: Nick Price
    Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
    Interest age: 5+
    Reading age: 7+

    A wayward umbrella, a life-like snowman and a landslide with a near-miss make young Womble Bungo’s first year out of the burrow a very exciting one indeed.

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