The Closest Thing to Crazy: My Life of Musical Adventures
by Mike Batt (Bonnier, 2024); audiobook read by Mike Batt (Nine Eight Books, 2024)
An engaging account of Batt’s long career in the volatile world of songwriting, performance and music production. Whereas many autobiographies skew heavily towards the early years and then drop into a perfunctory void, Batt provides even coverage most of the way through.
The Wombles: Beautiful Boating Weather
by Elisabeth Beresford (Hodder Children’s Books, 1998)
A slight (14-page) picture book adapted by Elisabeth Beresford from the 1997 TV series (itself derived from her MG novels)! The Wombles prove as loveable as ever, the pictures here being taken directly from the show, but there’s nothing of independent merit.
The Wombles
by Elisabeth Beresford (Ernest Benn, 1968)
The book that started a phenomenon. Beresford envisaged bear-like creatures living on Wimbledon Common. They are honest, hardworking, kind, curious and tidy but the younger Wombles are sometimes led into trouble by their childlike foibles. Each chapter relates a sweet, safe mini-adventure.
Womble Stories
by Elisabeth Beresford; audiobook read by Bernard Cribbins (BBC, 1976)
Six bite-sized Womble stories much in the vein of the five-minute TV episodes, read by Bernard Cribbins for a 1976 LP recording. By staying true to their personalities, various of the loveable, childlike Wombles stray briefly (and safely) into happily ended difficulties.