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Bottersnikes and Gumbles are fictitious creatures in a series of children's books by Australian writer S. A. Wakefield and illustrator Desmond Digby. Four books were published between 1967 and 1989. The series is considered a classic of Australian children's literature and has sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide. Since 2012 an animated television series has been under development.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.cheekylittle.com.au/bottersnikes-and-gumbles.php )〕 Set in the landscape of the Australian bush the stories recount a series of conflicts between the lazy, destructive Bottersnikes and good-natured, hardworking Gumbles. Inspiration for the series came from the emerging environmental movement. The two species were intended to represent opposing attitudes towards the environment; those who destroy the bush, and those who clean it up. These themes however are diffused by the series' humour, absurdity, playful language and its sense of the ridiculous. Bottersnikes have green wrinkly skin, cheese-grater noses and long, pointed ears that go red when they are angry, which is most of the time. They are perhaps the laziest creatures in the world. They eat mattress stuffing (preferably barbecued) and pictures of food out of magazines, and for sweets they like rusty nails and bottle tops. The Bottersnikes’ biggest fear is water, because they shrink when they get wet and have to be hung out to dry. Gumbles, on the other hand, are the most friendly and cheerful creatures in the bush and can be squashed into any shape without being hurt, although when flattened out completely they cannot regain their own shapes without help. They are hopeless when they get the giggles. Wakefield wrote four books about the Bottersnikes and Gumbles: *''Bottersnikes and Gumbles'' (1967) *''Gumbles on Guard'' (1975) *''Gumbles in Summer'' (1979) *''Gumbles in Trouble'' (1989) In 1996 the four books were reissued in an omnibus volume under the title ''The Complete Tales of Bottersnikes and Gumbles''. ==Themes== While the books consist of light-hearted children's stories, the author has worked in some themes to reflect his view of adult concepts such as journalism and politics. *In ''Gumbles in Trouble'', Chank the Bottersnike decides to run a newspaper for his fellows on an old typewriter. The author uses this device to make a number of points about biased reporting and the workings of the media in general. *In ''Gumbles in Summer'', the King of the Bottersnikes 'dies' of suspected food poisoning. The elite position of Kingship is up for grabs, and there are several strong and unconventional runners in the election race. The whole book is a play on politics, especially far-fetched promises, election campaigning, and votes. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bottersnikes and Gumbles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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