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Hardback gift edition of The Wombles published

The Wombles gift book edition

A full-colour hardback ‘gift book edition’ of The Wombles was published this week by Bloomsbury. The lovingly crafted edition of the first Wombles story book makes an ideal Christmas present for children - or older Wombles fans.

Spoiler alert! Don’t read these details if you want to save the surprises until you receive the book…

The 225-page book has a colour illustration by Nick Price on every page - some are featured images filling half the page, while the rest are smaller pictures bringing details from the stories to life.

The hardback book measures 25cm x 20cm and has a dust jacket. The inside covers have an illustrated ‘Womble map of Wimbledon Common’ showing key locations from the stories - though this isn’t in colour.

Apart from the illustrations, the content is almost exactly the same as in last year’s paperback edition, with the preface by Elisabeth Beresford, the note from Great Uncle Bulgaria, and the Wombles who’s who and wonderful wombling facts at the end.

There’s also a one-hour CD included, with three ‘specially selected’ stories read by Bernard Cribbins, the voice of the 1970s Wombles TV series. The stories are:

A longer audiobook appears to be due for release on 1 March 2012.

You can listen to an audio clip in the books section of the official The Wombles Books website, and keep up to date on the Facebook page.

The recommended retail price of the gift book is £14.99, but it’s currently available for £8.39 from Amazon.

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