One More BookFind a book
Cover of Wombats! Go Camping
Graphic · ages 5–8

Wombats! Go Camping

Written and illustrated by Maddie Frost

Book 1 of 2 in Wombats!View the full series

Top giftable

A glamping wombat and an enthusiastic camping buddy, the odd-couple setup is simple and the comedy is perfectly pitched at 5–8s. The warmest possible introduction to the graphic novel format for young readers who like their adventures with a cosy blanket nearby.

  • Best for5–8
  • FormatGraphic
  • Length96 pp
  • Read aloud~45 min
Save to a listFind similar books

The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Comedic
  • Conversational
  • Repetitive
  • Onomatopoeic

Tone

  • Funny
  • Silly
  • Warm
  • Gentle
  • Adventurous
  • Cosy
  • Whimsical

Themes

On the pagecamping, wombat, best friend, glamping, koala, outdoor adventure, forest, comfort zone

Experience meters

Energy4/ 5
Humour4/ 5
Scariness1/ 5
Peril1/ 5
Wonder3/ 5
Cosiness4/ 5
Emotional intensity2/ 5
Conceptual intensity1/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

Wombats! Go Camping pairs a comfort-loving wombat (the glamper, the reluctant adventurer, the one with the excessive luggage) with a more eager companion and puts them in the woods together. It's a classic odd-couple friendship story in a 96-page comic panel format that's ideal for the transition from picture books to early graphic novels. Frost's comedy is physical and well-timed without being frantic, the energy_level sits at 4 rather than 5, the cosiness at 4, and the combination means it works as a bedtime book in a way most graphic novels don't. The difference_and_diversity and empathy themes are light but real: the comedy arises from two creatures who want different things but care about each other, and children pick that up without it being labelled. Ideal first graphic novel for the 5–7 range.

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • Best fit · 5–8
  • Read aloud · 4–7
  • Independent · 5–8

Prose load

Light

Visual support

Very high

Reluctant-reader friendly

Very

Read-aloud quality

Strong

Works well for

  • Reading aloud
  • Bedtime
  • Gift-buying
  • Reluctant readers
Low sensitivityNo content warnings

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly

Sensitive-child

4 / 5 · Good fit

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • Reluctant readers
  • Early graphic novel
  • Feel good
  • Gift book

Avoid if

No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Reluctant reader
  • Struggling with reading
  • Making friends
  • Anxiety and worry

In the classroom

How it works in school.

A funny early graphic-novel series — a confidence-builder for new and reluctant readers.

Classroom role

  • Classroom library

A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

The specific delight is the glamping — a comfort-loving wombat with excessive luggage paired with a more eager outdoorsy friend, the odd-couple dynamic working perfectly in the woods. The Frost graphic novel that doubles as a bedtime book.

  • Animal companions
  • Friendship and belonging
  • Adventure and freedom
  • Making a difference

Why parents love it

The Maddie Frost Wombats! opener — odd-couple friendship comedy at energy 4 and cosiness 4 (rare for graphic novels), well-timed physical comedy without frantic chaos. Ideal first graphic novel for the 5-7 range; transition title from picture books.

  • Shared humour
  • Quick to read
  • Bedtime appropriate
  • Conversation starter

In the series

Wombats!.

2 books · open the series →

About the author & illustrator

Maddie Frost.

MF

Maddie Frost

Writer & illustrator · United States

Maddie Frost is an American author-illustrator best known for the Wombats! early-graphic-novel series (Wombats! Go Camping, Wombats! Go to Wizard's Wharf), bright, joke-paced friendship comics about wombat characters on small chaotic adventures. Frost's style is character-driven, warmly cartoony and well-paced, in the early-graphic-novel register that has become a reliable reluctant-reader pipeline for the youngest comic readers (ages 5–8). She also writes and illustrates picture books (Wombat Said Come In). A reliable contemporary early-graphic-novel author for emerging readers.

More from Maddie Frost

If you liked this

Three ways out of this book.

If you liked this, try…

Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.

Cover of Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea!
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea!

by Ben Clanton

Baloney and Friends
Greg Pizzoli
Baloney and Friends

by Greg Pizzoli

Cookie & Broccoli
Bob McMahon
Cookie & Broccoli

by Bob McMahon

Come into this from…

Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.

Cover of Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea!
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea!

by Ben Clanton

Baloney and Friends
Greg Pizzoli
Baloney and Friends

by Greg Pizzoli

Where to go next…

Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.

Cover of Wombats! Go to Wizard's Wharf
Wombats! Go to Wizard's Wharf

by Maddie Frost

Cover of Owly: The Way Home
Owly: The Way Home

by Andy Runton

Bunbun & Bonbon: Fancy Friends
Jess Keating
Bunbun & Bonbon: Fancy Friends

by Jess Keating

Where you’ll find it

On these reading lists.

Buy or borrow

Pick up a copy.

  • Bookshop.org
  • Waterstones
  • Amazon UK
  • Hive
Find it at your local library →

When you buy through the links above, we may earn a small commission — it never costs you more, and it never changes the books we choose. How we’re funded →

Last reviewed · April 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend

More ways to wander the room