, It’s A Children’s Book, But Everyone Will Love ‘Wombat Divine’

Mon., Dec. 15, 1997

Matthew Weaver Rogers

There’s still a little bit of time before Christmas, and I urge you to get your hands on what, if given half a chance, could be the biggest holiday sensation since Tickle Me Elmo and Tamagotchi pets - “Wombat Divine” by Mem Fox.

“Wombat Divine” is a children’s book, but don’t let that stop you from reading it. People of all ages should be able to enjoy this book. During the year, it would be excellent for baby-sitters, parents and older siblings to arm themselves with. And it also possesses a non-commercial, genuine holiday spirit that allows it to fit in perfectly with other Christmas classics.

In the story, Wombat has wanted to try out for the nativity play ever since he was little, and he is now finally old enough. At the auditions, though, Wombat is too heavy to be the Archangel Gabriel, too big to be Mary and too clumsy to be the innkeeper. Wombat’s friends are chosen instead, and as each accepts his or her part, they each try to cheer up their friend. “Cheer up, Wombat! Don’t lose heart. Why not try for a different part?”

At the end, Wombat is given the ultimate role of baby Jesus. There is something truly Christmasy about seeing the enormous wombat resting comfortably in the manger.

The pictures in “Wombat Divine” are to die for. Drawn beautifully by Kerry Argent, they make the book. Aside from the manger scene, the pictures detailing Wombat’s detriments for the other roles are hilarious. The scene where a near-sighted Wombat as a shepherd whacks the innkeeper with his staff is a scream.

“Wombat Divine” would truly be something for the whole family to enjoy. At the very least, it is something you wouldn’t mind reading over and over. And it should be something of a requirement for little kids.

“Exegesis”

Astro Teller

One of the symbols used on the Internet is a colon followed by a right parenthesis :), which is supposed to look like a smiley face turned sideways. It is this image that appears on the cover of “Exegesis,” and it certainly draws the reader’s attention to one of the most original books in history.

“Exegesis” is a new kind of sci-fi novel. The story is intense from the first page, starting with the simple message edgar@cyprus.standford.educ has for Alice Lu, a computer programmer: “Hello, Alice.”

Alice eventually discovers that she has somehow created an artificially intelligent being, which comes to be called Egart (although it goes by HAL in chat rooms). We as readers observe only the transcripts of e-mail messages between Edgar and Alice. Author Astro Teller takes us through the life of Edgar, from friendly and input-hungry to perplexed by humanity (Shakespeare really confuses it), to downright nasty to the point where Edgar, pursued by authorities, must slip away…

First-time novelist Teller, an artificial intelligence specialist at Carnegie Mellon, has set the path for what I’m sure will be the next big trend in the book industry. But copycats will be lucky to even come close to his talent.

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