Tomek Wilmowski is a series of nine

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

adventure novel Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the introduction to the ''Encycloped ...

s written by

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

author

Alfred Szklarski Alfred Szklarski (; 21 January 1912 – 9 April 1992) was a Polish author of youth literature. He also published his books under the pseudonyms Alfred Bronowski, Fred Garland and Alfred Murawski. Biography Szklarski was born in Chicago, Illi ...

. The original series was published from 1957 to 1994. The last book, written by Maciej Dudziak, was published in 2021. The title character, young traveler Tomek Wilmowski is the main protagonist of the novels. The books are stories about his adventures in different countries of the world. They are set in the beginning of 20th century. The other characters of the novels are Tomek's father Andrzej Wilmowski (

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

), sailor and comic relief of books Tadeusz Nowicki, mysterious traveller and animal hunter Jan Smuga,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n friend and later Tomek's wife Sally Allan, his cousin Zbigniew Karski and his

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n wife Natasha. Tomek and his friends are Polish emigrants who must flee from the country under Russian occupation. The books contain much geographical,

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

knowledge as well as humour and entertainment which is aimed at adolescents and young adults.

The series

1. '' Tomek in the Land of Kangaroos'' (''Tomek w krainie kangurów''), 1957 * First adventure of Tomek in

. 2. ''Tomek on the Black Continent'' (''Tomek na Czarnym Lądzie''), 1958 * Tomek and his friends travel to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, where the heroes want to catch wild animals for a zoological garden. 3. ''Tomek on the warpath'' (''Tomek na wojennej ścieżce''), 1959 * Vacation of Tomek in the United States, where his friend Sally is staying and where she was kidnapped by Native Americans. 4. ''Tomek traces the

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. is an ape-like creature purported t ...

'' (''Tomek na tropach Yeti''), 1961 * Tomek and his father and friend are seeking the traveller Jan Smuga, who was lost in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. 5. ''Tomek's secret expedition'' (''Tajemnicza wyprawa Tomka''), 1963 * Tomek and his friend save Tomek's cousin, Zbigniew from Russian captivity. 6. ''Tomek among the headhunters'' (''Tomek wśród łowców głów''), 1965 * Tomek and his friends travel to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. 7. ''Tomek at the source of the Amazon'' (''Tomek u źródeł Amazonki''), 1967 * Tomek and his friends save Jan Smuga, who is being held captive by an indigenous tribe in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and chase the murderers of the owner of a plantation. 8. ''Tomek in Gran Chaco'' (''Tomek w Gran Chaco''), 1987 * Tomek's further adventures in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. 9. ''Tomek in the Pharaohs' tombs'' (''Tomek w grobowcach faraonów''), 1994 * Tomek and his friends travel to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. 10. ''Tomek in Alasca'' (''Tomek na Alasce''), 2021 * Tomek and Sally's expedition to Alasca.

References

{{reflist Young adult novels Polish novels 20th-century Polish novels Polish children's novels Series of children's books Children's books set in the 20th century Children's books set in Australia Children's books set in Kenya Children's books set in Uganda Children's books set in the United States Children's books set in Tibet Children's books set in Papua New Guinea Children's books set in Brazil Children's books set in Egypt Children's books set in South America